For sponsorship teams working through fall renewal conversations, the 16.7% non-local spend surge documented by Bank of America is the denominator every host-city activation will now be measured against. If a debrief can't show attributable capture, meaning verified transactions, redemptions, or badge scans tied to a documented corridor-wide surge, the measurement gap Plat Street flagged back in Issue 1 stops being theoretical. It becomes the specific line item a finance team points to when deciding whether next year's activation budget gets renewed at the same level.

Source: Bank of America Institute, June 25, 2026