Economist: NFL Lockout Would Make for $20 Million in Lost Economic Activity per Game on Average
By Zac Snyder
I was invited to participate in a conference call on December 3 in which the economic impact of a potential NFL lockout was discussed. The call was hosted by NFLPA Executive Director of External Affairs George Atallah and Dr. Jesse David, Senior Vice President at Edgeworth Economics
Unfortunately, I couldn’t call in due to a scheduling conflict but I was able to secure a transcript. I suggest giving it a read if you have any interest in the economics of professional sports. Also be sure to sign the fan petition at NFLlockout.com and check them out on facebook and twitter.
The conference call transcript starts after the jump.
George Atallah: Morning everyone. This is George Atallah with the NFL Players Association. I’m pleased today to be joined by Dr. Jesse David, Senior Vice President at Edgeworth Economics, to discuss the economic impact of a potential NFL lockout in 2011.
Many of you that are on the call have already taken an interest or written about this issue as of last week. We’re pleased that you’re joining us today. I think one of these things that we’ve been talking about as a player’s union since 2009 are the ramifications and negative impacts of a lockout on the team communities and on the cities that help stage the games.
The first message that we shared with people was the direct impact on the 100,000 plus stadium workers that would be out of work if there are games missed.
In this economy I think we can all be sensitive to these issues and we’ve certainly done everything we can to move this CBA process along, but in light of the recent developments and the challenges that we have with the collective bargaining agreement it’s important to – for people to recognize that it’s not just players that will be negatively impacted by a lockout.
With that I’m pleased again to have on the call Dr. David, who’s going to provide a summary, brief summary of his findings, go over the methodology. I know a lot of the people on the call – we fielded questions about the methodology and where these numbers came from. And with that Jesse, I turn it to you.