Economist: NFL Lockout Would Make for $20 Million in Lost Economic Activity per Game on Average
By Zac Snyder
Operator:We now have a follow up question from the line of Eric Edholm with Pro Football Weekly. Please go ahead.
Eric Edholm:George, if I understood what you said right, are you saying that the NFL is actually disputing these particular numbers that you guys have – I don’t know how much they’ve come up specifically in CBA negotiations, but the ones that we’re talking about today, have they said that these numbers are false or misleading or…?
George Atallah:Yes they have.
Eric Edholm:Okay.
George Atallah:Yes, and the direct quote from Greg Aiello is, “It is a series of numbers pulled from thin air in a misguided attempt to inject politics into the collective bargaining process.”
Eric Edholm:Okay. Okay, thank you.
George Atallah:And – you’re welcome.
Operator:Our next question comes from the line of Howard Fendrich. Please go ahead.
Howard Fendrich:Hi, I just wanted to clarify. It’s based on ten such studies?
Dr. Jesse David:Yes, ten.
Howard Fendrich:And you mentioned the Santa Clara one which, I mean, there is no stadium there. Are the others all actual places where there are stadiums?
Dr. Jesse David:Yes. In – well wait, I’ll have to go back and look. In general the studies are done either in anticipation of a stadium being built or to justify existing subsidies.
I’m looking down the list here. The Saints did one, Chargers, Texans, Colts, Ravens, 49ers, Falcons, Vikings, Giants and Jets, Cowboys. As I look at that list I believe the 49ers are the only one that was for a stadium that has not yet been built, but I’m not 100% positive of that.
But I will say by the way that that stadium included the numbers that they used for the ongoing operations that are based on the team’s spending largely, and of course that exists at the present stadium.
But that’s a good point that that is one – the one of the ten I believe that has not actually yet been built.
Howard Fendrich:And the – but the idea that you’re putting forth is that across the 32 teams, it would be about a $20 million per game impact based on these ten studies.
Dr. Jesse David:Right, so these ten were taken as representative. They include teams in large markets or high revenue teams like the Cowboys. They include a smaller market or lower revenue teams for example like the Saints.
They run over a range of time periods from 2002 to 2010. As I mentioned I believe nine of the ten are for current facilities, so we’ve assumed that those as a group are representative of the league more broadly.
If they’re not then, you know, the number could be slightly different. As I mentioned there is a range within those ten. I don’t, you know, in terms of whether, you know, none of these studies say zero or anything close to zero, so I don’t think that there’s any dispute about whether, you know, the numbers in this ball park or at least I don’t think that the folks who run stadiums and teams would have any dispute with that.
I know that there are some out there who dispute this general approach, but we’ve adopted the approach that the league and the teams and the stadiums have put forth in their analyses.
Howard Fendrich:That’s helpful. Thanks very much.
Dr. Jesse David:Sure.
Operator:We have a follow up question from the line of Eric Edholm with Pro Football weekly. Please go ahead.
Eric Edholm:Sorry fellows, I’m like the annoying guy that has five follow up questions. You mentioned this study included the Cowboys over a range of years, but I didn’t know if that included them with the new stadium. Was it within the past two years?
Dr. Jesse David:Yes, that was a study by the City of Arlington that was intended to estimate how the new stadium would affect the local economy, and that was actually just done this last year.
Eric Edholm:So it was done after the completion of the new stadium then.
Dr. Jesse David:I think it was done while the stadium was being constructed, and it was intended to be an estimate of what the impact was after it was finished.
Eric Edholm:Okay, thank you.
Dr. Jesse David:And, I mean, you should take a look at that study. It’s again publicly available. It’s titled Economic and Fiscal Impacts for the Proposed NFL Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Actually as I’m looking at this it was actually prepared in – the initial study was actually started in 2004.
Operator:There are no further questions at this time.
George Atallah:Thanks everyone for taking the time to participate. I’m available for any follow up emails. The best way to reach me – g@nflplayers.com and we can answer any follow up questions that way. Appreciate the time and have a good weekend.
Dr. Jesse David:Yes George, let me just add I’m happy to give more details about the economics. Just for practical purposes it might make sense if questions were sent through George and he’ll pass them on to me.
George Atallah:Yes. Thanks (Luke). We can conclude the call.
Operator:Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.