Has an Economic Impact Ever Been Done for WSU Football?

[60Shock]

I know, I don't generally like studies either. But, here is one university that has just completed an economical income analysis study which apparently shows that football can bring a substantial amount of income to a city and correspondingly to the university. And if so, why shouldn't the city help shoulder the operating costs?

Stetson University, approximately 2,500 students, located in Deland, FL (30,000 population) is located about 25 miles west of Daytona Beach and 35 east of Orlando. Deland is the county seat for Volusia County which has a population of around 400,000. Since both Orlando and Daytona Beach have established college football teams of their own, the dollar impact noted below would not be significant from their population areas, but from other smaller localities near Deland.

With the possible return of Stetson football, their economic impact analysis study indicated that millions of dollars in revenue and nearly 200 jobs in the first seven years could easlily be expected. Local sales would pour in an extra $5 million in 2012 alone and this would increase to $7 million once play started in 2013. The estimated potential dollar figure over the first five years is $47 million.

This would be a non-schoolarship football team and would be part of the 10 team Pioneer Football League (FCS conference) which includes Butler, Davidson, Jacksonville, and Valparaiso, that are schools better known for football. Creation of a woman's lacrosse and a woman's volley ball team would be established to meet the requirements of Title 10.

Stetson is counting on the new sports increasing enrollment, and generating an additional $16.5 million dollars in tuition, residence, and other school fees.

The overall strategy of the university is to increase enrollment, improve the retention rates of students, and to create excitement for campus vibrancy. And the Stetson Trustees believe "Football will accomplish this."

Of note is the vast difference in size between Stetson and WSU and also the population density between Deland and Wichita. The annual dollar revenue figures alone should be much higher per year in Wichita.

Of course, costs would be higher at WSU assuming that, unlike Stetson, WSU would field a scholarhip team.

Still, this is something, that if we haven't done before, we should definitely look into.

[Snapshot9]

Why haven't we done something like this??? That is the question. There is enough interest there to justify doing it.

I just read all about Bubba Cunningham, Tulsa's AD, that KU is thinking about hiring to replace Lew Perkins. He sure sounds like the type of AD that WSU needs, one that will get something done.

[shocker3]

Thanks for the post. Interesting study.

[ABC]

These economic impact studies almost always have two major flaws.

First, they don't account for the opportunity cost of the resources involved. How else could that money have been used?

Second, they almost always double-count at least some portion of the revenue.

For example, counting the money fans would spend in Wichita on game day would be tricky. For most football fans, they would simply be spending money on WSU football that they otherwise would spend on a different entertainment venue.