Ah, fall. The changing colors, the crisp cool breeze, the shorter days. And FOOTBALL! We’ve already talked about the benefits of the Super Bowl itself, but what about the season leading up to that circus of hype? Is it a good thing for people’s Paychecks to live in a city with an NFL team?
Here are Five Fast Facts on the economics of NFL cities:
- 🚧 Lots Of Jobs - Particularly when building a stadium, there is usually a major boost to the local economy in the form of construction jobs. For example, the LA Rams’ stadium in Inglewood created at least 3,500 jobs. But it’s unclear if those jobs – and the spending that comes from the people in them – stay in the long term. Then again, we don’t often see roving caravans of construction workers moving from stadium to stadium, so…
- 💰 Big Bucks…But To Whom? - Most NFL teams are owned by billionaires. One big complaint is that local taxpayers foot the bill (or large portions of it) for the stadium and ongoing operations, but the profits from the team go into the billionaire owner’s pockets rather than back to the community. But don’t forget about all the Thanksgiving turkey drives the players do every year - that gives back, right?
- ⛔ Negative Nellies - Most economists disagree that an NFL team brings more money into a local economy. They say the spending on the local team generally just gets shifted over from other forms of entertainment - robbing Peter to pay Paul. Economists are fun sponges.
- 🏈 Local Success - One of the most successful teams in recent years is the Kansas City Chiefs. One local retailer, Charlie Hustle, sold more Chiefs gear after one of their Super Bowl wins than in the entire holiday season before it, and that Chiefs merch was almost 20% of their entire business. I think they’d tell you being in an NFL city is pretty damned good!
- 📈 Even Bad Teams Drive Dollars - A recent study showed that the NFL adds $5 billion to the US economy each year. The biggest piece of this is TV rights and viewing subscriptions. Cities with successful teams add an estimated $100 in income per person to the local area, but even bad teams drive dollars. For example, the Cleveland Browns have never won the Super Bowl and are rarely very good, but they still generate local revenues of $8 million per game. No comment.
🔥Bottom line: NFL stadiums can be used for other unique purposes, too: concerts, the US Men’s Soccer team, or major college football games all help drive local economies with events that simply can’t be held anywhere else due to their size.
Ultimately, it seems this is one of those questions where the answer depends on who you ask. Regardless of the dollars, it does seem like the identity of a city rests heavily on its professional sports teams, in this country perhaps most of all the NFL. If you’ve ever seen a town literally painted red/blue/purple/green/whatever before and after a big win, then you know it’s for real. And can you really put a price on that?
What do you think about being an NFL team city?
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