What is the local economic impact of losing an NFL team? (St. Louis: 2015, how much)

[ColdAilment]

NFL teams bring big money to any city, massive cities like New York or Los Angeles might not be affected too much with the departure of a professional sports team, but for a medium sized metro area like St. Louis, what are the immediate and long term economical effects from losing such a huge enterprise?

I know St. Louis is more diverse than its athletic teams, and you still have the Cardinals, one of the best MLB teams out there right now, but how much of a drain on the local economy is it going to be from losing an NFL team?

[SyraBrian]

The loss of player salaries alone will drive down the metro's per capita income level by over $50 DOLLARS.

[PerseusVeil]

Apparently it's going to be fairly negligible. The Rams weren't a fraction as profitable for St. Louis as the Cardinals are, and now the city doesn't have to throw money at a new stadium. I've seen $80 million quoted, but apparently there's talk that local spending would drown a lot of that out from persons who otherwise would have been at games since the majority of fans were local.

Rams’ Departure Will Leave $80 Million Hole In St. Louis Economy « CBS St. Louis
Losing Rams would be blow to St. Louis' pride, not economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/sp...-the-rams.html
Nicklaus: Losing the Rams should be an economic nonevent for St. Louis : Business
Economic impact of Rams move from St. Louis to L.A.

[sithlord72]

Not necessarily.... Think of the money that St. Louis now can hold onto by not blowing it on a bunch of billionaires who don't use their own money because they know a new stadium is a white elephant for any municipality .

[STL2006]

The immediate impact is St. Louis has an empty dome that they're still paying off and $10-$12million in annual tax revenue just left the state.

[ColdAilment]

Some of you have brought up good points, perhaps the effects won't really be felt around the entire metro area. I'm just curious to see if the Ram's can maintain a strong fan base in L.A.

[mjtinmemphis]

I live Downtown near the dome and can tell you game days don't necessarily help the restaurant scene any. People came in tailgates, watch the game and buy food at the game and leave.

The Rams didn't have the nationwide following of the Cardinals so you dont get a lot of hotels booked.

Another thing to remember is that the Dome is attached to a convention center. Thats freeing up some time and actually increases the marketability of the convention business.

[carloslevy]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Some of you have brought up good points, perhaps the effects won't really be felt around the entire metro area. I'm just curious to see if the Ram's can maintain a strong fan base in L.A.

Wasn't this experiment attempted once before?

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I live Downtown near the dome and can tell you game days don't necessarily help the restaurant scene any. People came in tailgates, watch the game and buy food at the game and leave.

The Rams didn't have the nationwide following of the Cardinals so you dont get a lot of hotels booked.

Another thing to remember is that the Dome is attached to a convention center. Thats freeing up some time and actually increases the marketability of the convention business.

So if anything the Ram's departure might be a blight lifted off of the city in the long run?

[STL2006]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

So if anything the Ram's departure might be a blight lifted off of the city in the long run?

I highly doubt it. I do not think using public money to build a stadium was ideal, but I also don't think the NFL leaving is going to do any favors to the north side of downtown. The convention business is very competitive, and I have extreme doubts that more free dates will really attract more conventions, money, and development. I think it's more likely that side of downtown becomes a ghost town and sinks further into decay.