Scoring Big for Main Street: Champion Local Businesses During Major Events

When a city hosts a major event—whether it is a massive sports tournament, an international convention, or a multi-day music festival—the economic tidal wave can be staggering. These spectacles draw in thousands, sometimes millions, of visitors and inject millions of dollars into local economies.

But behind these staggering multi-million dollar projections lies a critical question: How do we ensure this economic windfall actually reaches the lifeblood of our communities—our local small businesses?

The Opportunity (and the Challenge)

When millions of fans travel for an event of this magnitude, the immediate beneficiaries are often large corporate hotels, airlines, and major chain restaurants clustered around the stadiums or convention centers.

Local cafes, family-owned restaurants, boutique shops, and neighborhood attractions—while offering the most authentic cultural experiences—can easily be overlooked. Host cities need a proactive strategy to guide visitor spending beyond the immediate venue districts and into local neighborhoods.

This is where a targeted shop local platform like Open Rewards can change the game (pun intended).

What is Open Rewards?

Open Rewards is an innovative shop local platform that empowers local governments and business associations to stimulate their local economies. The concept is simple but powerful: consumers earn rewards for shopping, dining, and spending at eligible local businesses.

These reward programs are typically funded by the city or local economic development organizations. By rewarding local spending, Open Rewards effectively shifts consumer behavior, creating a direct funnel of revenue for small business owners who might otherwise struggle to compete with national chains.

Leveraging Open Rewards for Major Events

As cities prepare to host their next major event, integrating Open Rewards into their economic development strategy could be the ultimate "assist" for small businesses. Here are some ideas:

1. "Shop Local" Vouchers at Hotels

To proactively engage tourists as soon as they arrive, cities can partner with hotels to provide "Shop Local" vouchers. Upon checking in, guests could receive a printed voucher card with a $20 starting balance on the Open Rewards app, giving them immediate incentive to explore the eligible independent cafes and retailers.

On the right is an example of voucher cards from City of Lancaster, CA.

2. The "Local Passport" Challenge

Gamification is a surefire way to drive engagement. Host cities can create a "Local Passport" program within Open Rewards - tourists who visit enough eligible local businesses (e.g., a local brewery, a boutique, a neighborhood taqueria) unlock a special prize. The passport programs can also be themed, curating a few tracks of "crawls" tailored for different customer segments.

3. The "Scratch Card" Experience

Eligible local businesses can be provided with physical scratch cards to give to customers. When customers reveal the code underneath, they can scan it in the Open Rewards app to receive a prize. The prizes could be dynamically controlled, such as personalized rewards, tickets to events, prizes sponsored by participating businesses, etc. This creates a fun, retro, shareable moment while elevating the local, in-person, experience.

Creating Lasting Legacies, Not Just Temporary Bumps

Events may only last a few days or weeks, but a well-executed Open Rewards program leaves a lasting legacy. While the immediate goal might be to capture visitor dollars, the platform simultaneously builds a base of local residents who download the app and form long-term habits of supporting their local economy long after the final whistle blows.

For local governments, having clear data to measure the impact of these initiatives is crucial. Open Rewards provides trackable insights into exactly how much money is being driven into the local independent economy, offering transparent ROI on the city-funded initiatives. These metrics provide valuable insights for future strategies and planning.

The Final Whistle

Major conventions, festivals, and sports tournaments present a "golden opportunity" not just for the visitors, but for the economies of all host cities. To truly maximize this opportunity for the local businesses, local leaders need to have an active strategy directing the flow of capital toward main street.

By implementing platforms like Open Rewards, host cities can ensure that when the crowds cheer for their favorite teams on the pitch, local business owners will be celebrating victories of their own.

Are you a local government, BID, or chamber of commerce preparing for a major event? Now is the time to start planning your small business support strategy. Schedule a consultation session with our team.