Bless its journalistic heart, the Tribune-Review has published the perfect point-of-order, long-form story that questions much of the supposed conventional wisdom surrounding the touted coming benefits of this month’s NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
And it reflects many of the questions raised by the Allegheny Institute over the years. While the Trib story extensively quotes Jake Haulk, the think tank’s president-emeritus, it also cites plenty of other sources who urge caution over (or outright dispute) the cheerleaders’ claiming of a massive economic impact.
Not only have “some businesses in past [host NFL Draft] cities” been “left out of the [supposed economic impact] bonanza,” methodologies used to project such benefits should be treated with a jaundiced eye, the Trib concludes.
One Green Bay restaurant owner even told the Trib that she would tell Pittsburgh businesses “don’t rely on the draft to bring extra business.”
Additionally, the Trib, as has the Allegheny Institute, says everything from projections of attendance to hotel usage should be questioned, too. Simply put, both too often are calculated incorrectly (if not on purpose to snare millions in taxpayer subsidies, this scrivener would add).
One thing in particular that caught our eye in the excellent reportage of the Trib’s Julia Burdelski was this little nugget:
“In a statement, Visit Pittsburgh’s draft organizing committee said the tourism agency will work with Sportsimpacts, a market research firm focused on sports, to conduct an independent economic impact assessment after the event.
“’The analysis will focus specifically on spending attributable to the NFL Draft, including visitor lodging, dining, transportation, retail and entertainment, as well as event-related operational spending,’ the statement said.
“The analysis will include spending during the three-day event, as well as related travel and longer stays before and after the draft. It will focus on Allegheny County and consider surrounding areas ‘experiencing measurable draft-related visitation.’”
But as we’ve previously noted in this space, such studies commissioned by event-sponsoring organizations are notorious for inflating those “benefit” numbers.
And then there’s this, also from the Trib story:
“[T]he City of Pittsburgh is unlikely to make much money — if any — from the event, Controller Rachael Heisler said.
“’The reality is the draft is going to be a financial expense for the city,’ Heisler told TribLive. ‘It’s a drain on resources, and we need to be prudent where we can.’
“The city is facing a serious budget crunch, with officials scrambling to find millions of dollars to cover basic expenses like bridge maintenance, legal judgments and retiree health care costs.
“The draft, Heisler said, isn’t likely to generate revenue to fill the gaps,” the Trib reported.
And as our very own Haulk, a Ph.D. economist, reminds in the Trib story: It’s important to remember [that the NFL Draft] lasts only three days.
“That’s less than 1 percent of the days in the year,” he said. “It’s not going to be a lifeline to the city’s overall health. You’d need to have this happen 40 or 50 times a year — of course, people would get tired of having those crowds.”
Hear! Hear! to something that’s sadly too often missing in the run-up ballyhoo to events such as the NFL Draft – perspective.
The Trib story closes noting how a “recent study also showed that people who had watched the Green Bay draft on television were more likely to see the city as a good place to start a business, go to college or retire than people who hadn’t tuned in.”
“’In the industry, we call it the halo effect,” said Brad Toll, president and CEO of Discover Green Bay. “There’s definitely a halo from hosting the draft. A lot of cities are vying to try and have an opportunity to host it.”
But, we would remind, the “halo effect” can be a double-edged sword, taking one or two positive impressions, inflating them, and overshadowing the overall reality that, on net, offers more negatives that positives.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
