July 17, 2014
Local World Cup Impact
The World Cup is now over, PERIOD, STED COMMA HERE Germany has won, the TV ratings were
spectacular and many are calling this the most exciting World Cup in recent
memory.
Forbes
has estimated that FIFA will make $4 billion in revenue for this year’s World
Cup. That’s up 66% PERCENT IS SPELLED
OUT, PER AP STYLE from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
As for
local communities in the United States, they seem to have little to no economic
gain directly from when the World Cup strolls by every four years.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? SHOW ME DATA/QUOTES
FROM EXPERTS THAT PROVES THIS HERE
Scott
Tainsky, a sports economist and an assistant professor at the University of
Illinois, explained why this might be.
“If the
FIFA World Cup were not this summer, some other sport organization would fill
the void with programming,” said Tainsky. GOOD
NEUTRAL EXPERT HERE
When
asked about if there were profits for local bars and businesses that cater to
the World Cup, Tainsky said, “It’s a question that would require a lot more
research than would be worthwhile for any single entity to commission.”
WHAT DID A FEW BARS SAY ABOUT IT? WHY NOT
ASK THEM YOURSELF?
Despite
its large fan base and large audience, local communities do not seem to get an
economic growth directly from the World Cup.
Brian
Mills, a sports economist at the University of Florida, explained more in depth
into why that might be. ANOTHER GOOD
NEUTRAL EXPERT
“One
thing to remember about the spending at the bars in the community for the World
Cup is that it is likely substitution spending,” said Mills.
Mills
said, “Rather than sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings in Ann Arbor, you would
probably be doing something else with your time and money.”
Mills
explains SAID, STED EXPLAINED that
if you weren’t watching the game at that local bar you could instead be going
to a movie within that same community.
Thus the
money is not new money being spent directly from the World Cup, it is just
being spent somewhere else. COMMA, STED
PERIOD HERE Making the net economic benefit in the community fairly low.
“We
care about the marginal bump in economic activity, rather than that shift of
spending from one activity to another in the same place,” said Mills.
Lindsay
Smith is a store manager at Dunham’s Sports in West Bloomfield, Michigan. MICH. STED MICHIGAN She gave some
insight into the how Dunham’s Sports handles the World Cup.
“Sure,
we tailor to the World Cup, but we do not see an enormous increase in sales for
the store as a whole when the World Cup is around. Instead, what we see if a
shift of spending from say baseball to soccer,” said Smith.
CAN THEY OFFER SALES FIGURES, COMPARING
LAST SUMMER TO THIS, FOR EXAMPLE?
Smith
explained SAID, STED EXPLAINED that
the World Cup merchandise is just in season at the moment. If the World Cup
wasn’t this summer then some other sports merchandise would be in season. There
will be something that replaces the World Cup next summer.
“On the
days that the U.S. was playing, we saw a slight increase in sales for that day
from people that genuinely wanted a jersey to show their support for the U.S.
in the game that day. However, for jerseys of teams from outside the U.S. or
other World Cup merchandise, those are more of an afterthought for customers.
They see them while browsing the store and think that it could be cool
memorabilia from this year’s World Cup so they buy them,” said Smith.
“We don’t see an increase in customers just
because it’s the World Cup. People aren’t going to go out into other
communities to go shopping specifically for World Cup merchandise,” says SAID, STED SAYS Smith.
Smith
says SAID, STED SAYS that it is same
way that when it’s winter, there is in increase in sales for their hockey
department, “It’s just seasonal shopping really.”
The lack
of economic growth in communities during the World Cup isn’t because of the
catching up the sport of soccer needs to do in the United States or because of
their lack of success in the World Cup.
In
fact, Mills says, SAID, STED SAYS “Recent
research by myself and colleagues, Scott Tainsky, Steve Salaga, and Michelle Xu
looks at this phenomenon in the NFL. We find that when your home team is in the
playoffs, you are more likely to watch playoff games of other NFL teams that
year. I suspect the effect is even larger for a sport like soccer – where we
don’t watch it much to begin with – and at the national level – where national
pride very likely plays an enhanced role in interest of the games.”
HOW MUCH MORE? LET’S SHARE SOME NUMBERS
HERE
It is
more of a seasonal growth in the emotional interest of soccer for local
communities that happens to occur every four years.
SOURCES
Scott
Tainsky, assistant professor at the University of Illinois and sports
economist, tainsky@illinois.edu, (217)
244-1857
Brian
Mills, assistant professor at the University of Florida and sports economist, bmmillsy@ufl.edu, (352)
294-1664
Lindsay
Smith, store manager at Dunham’s Sports, (248) 613-7388
SECONDARY
SOURCES
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: NICE JOB OVERALL, BUT
WE COULD USE A BIT MORE DATA AND MORE INTERVIEWS FROM THE KINDS OF PLACES THAT
CATERS TO WORLD CUP FANS, LIKE RESTAURANTS AND BARS. ONE SPORTING GOODS STORE
IS NOT ENOUGH.
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