If there is no college football season this fall, not only will the student-athletes suffer, but the economy as a whole will. Universities, TV networks, the hospitality industry(which includes restaurants and bars) will all take big financial hits. Football is one of two sports that is actually profitable at the collegiate level, the other being basketball. USA TODAY Sports reported that the "50-plus public schools in the Power Five conferences have at least $4.1 billion in fiscal-year revenue tied to football -- which is more than 60% of their athletics departments' combined total annual operating revenues." Many schools are already struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so if there is no college football played this fall, we could see many college athletic programs shut down due to a lack of funds. Tv networks also profit significantly from the college football season and pay huge fees for the rights to broadcast the games. Lastly, the Restaurant industry is one that has suffered greatly from the pandemic and can't afford more big losses this fall. If there are no football games on tv, customers will be less likely to go out. This is both a national and local economic issue that is tough to resolve. Fans and players desperately want to have a college football season, but it needs to be conducted safe manner.
I agree that while college football is a great part of incomes for universities, television, and restaurants, there is no way to justify allowing these things to happen and not others that are still closed down, like smaller business, salons, personal businesses. I think this adds a huge blow to the economy like a lot of other things have this year. Even if we did go back as normal, people would be hesitant for safety reasons and not want to go out still.
ReplyDeleteLosing this football season may leave an impact, especially on colleges and universities, but we can't forget live entertainers. Broadway grossed 1.83 billion in New York alone (https://www.broadwayleague.com/research/statistics-broadway-nyc/). That does not include the millions of community, professional, and regional theatres across the nation. Live nation, a live concert/show/entertainment ticket purchasing site, calculated that in 2019, their single site grossed 11.55 billion in revenue in 2019 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/193700/revenue-of-live-nation-entertainment-since-2006/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20live%20event%20specialist,dollars%20was%20generated%20through%20concerts.) For many people whose livelihood is in live entertainment, this pandemic will be more than one season. This also leaves us to wonder what will happen to our GDP if theatres and live entertainment venues stay closed.
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of sports is going to have huge impacts on schools, cities, and television as you mentioned. There is a lot to be gained financially from sports for D1 colleges and the cancellation of these events increase the money lost by schools. It goes even beyond college into the professional world of sports, a billion dollar industry. This will have major effects on cities that rely on revenues from sporting events.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree schools will lose potential revenues from cancelling football, among other fall sports, it seems unavoidable at this point. Professional sports such as NHL, NBA, and more have safely restarted primarily due to the "bubble" they created. Colleges would have student-athletes traveling to different cities/states all while being exposed to thousands of other students on campus.
ReplyDeleteThe result in cancellation will result in large losses as you mentioned. We will likely see more and more colleges and universities begin to pull from their endowments and/or cut programs/staff in response to this.
Cancelling the NCAA football season will have a huge impact on cities across the US. Not only is cancellation avoidable, it's the wrong decision to make in my opinion in this scenario. Many people's jobs are on the line due to this recent pandemic, many being team staff members.
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of the NCAA season has a tremendous impact on the world of the athletes, employees, and families involved. Whilst the sports economy is important to the United States, I think the health and safety of all involved is more valuable than the season, regardless of level.
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