When most think of the impact Davis Legacy Soccer Club has on the local community, what comes to mind is the amount of youth players that the club serves–more than 1,000 people each year participate in its competitive, recreational, adult, and camp programming.
However, ask any local business what Legacy’s impact is on the community and you might receive a different answer.
According to a recent economic analysis of the club’s operations, Davis Legacy is responsible for attracting more than 100,000 outside visitors to the city every year, which generates more than $24 million of economic impact for local eateries, grocery stores, hotels, and other businesses.
“We have a huge impact on the Davis community and the surrounding communities just from the club’s operational standpoint,” said Davis Legacy Director of Finance Justyn Howard. “And this economic study doesn’t even take into consideration the multiplier effect of just spending money in the community. If I go to a store and buy things, that store then uses the money to pay employees, who, in turn, buy more things locally.”
Due to having the largest soccer complex in Northern California while being located relatively centrally in the NorCal Premier Soccer region, Davis Legacy is able to host a multitude of events each year, from the club-hosted Davis Legacy Tournament Series, to many of NorCal’s most prestigious competitions.
Roughly once every month, Davis Legacy Soccer Complex operates at full capacity, bringing thousands to the region, which only serves to provide a great economic impact to the local community. Notably, the club has never taken a single dollar of city funding, meaning there are no costs associated with having Davis Legacy operate as it does.
One of the businesses that benefits the most from this local asset is Nugget Markets, which have two stores in Davis, one of which lies just two miles down the road from Legacy.
“Davis Legacy events have a significant and positive impact on the business flow at the Mace Nugget,” said Mace Nugget Kitchen Manager Teresa Solario. “(Legacy) tournaments bring in large waves of families, athletes, and visitors throughout the day, which creates predictable surges in traffic—especially in the mornings. Overall, their events create strong sales opportunities, increase exposure to new guests, and reinforce our role as the community store for both locals and visiting teams.”
The impact that these events bring to the community is so great that the other Nugget in town, located more than five miles away from the fields, also keeps a calendar of Legacy events in order to prepare for increased traffic, according to one Nugget employee.
“When Legacy hosts soccer tournaments, we plan ahead by reviewing the schedule, increasing staffing during peak times, and boosting production on high-volume items, like ready to go cold sandwiches, hot ready to go breakfast burritos or breakfast sandwiches,” Solario added. “Even later in the day, we make sure that our hot food is ready before our normal times. We prep and stage extra grab-and-go products early, keep communication tight across departments, and focus on speed, service, and staying fully stocked.”
“It’s all about being proactive and ready for the rush.”
Dave Sangha is familiar with the tournament rush as well, having owned the South Davis Subway franchise since 1999, back when Legacy was a fraction of its current size.
Back then, the club couldn’t host nearly as many events and featured a much smaller player pool as its complex featured just three full-size fields compared to the current number of 16.
While Sangha remembers the slower times from back then, he now has to schedule one or two extra employees each day Legacy has an event, resulting in a staff that nearly doubles in size from the one or two who take up normal shifts.
“When there’s a soccer tournament, my sales go up by about 100% more than what I would have done,” Sangha said. “I’m expecting to do twice as much business every time there’s an event.”
“(Davis Legacy) has a good impact on the community,” he added. “The businesses are happy because weekends are slower, but we still get business. (Davis) is a college town so a lot of people go out of town to see their families on the weekends.”
Overall, those in the business community see Legacy as a positive, something that brings needed dollars to the area without taking away resources from residents who aren’t involved with the club.
“How many people are stopping by Starbucks in the morning to get their coffee? Absent us, Starbucks is still there, but they wouldn’t be getting the same amount of business without us,” Howard said. “We are a net positive to the community both on a social basis, but also an economic basis. The more we grow, the better the community does. There’s a reason why the hotels always call us to ask when our events are, there’s a reason the businesses have our schedule.”