View topic - AFCC game worth $20 MILLION to Pittsburgh

[StillMill Profile]

For the idiots who pooh-poohed the idea of Pittsburgh applying to host the Army-Navy game, read here --

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 07247.html

Granted, the Army-Navy game wouldn't create quite this stir. However, it'd be a SELL OUT, and as this article noted, this greatly helps the revenues of taxis, hotels, restaurants, and so forth. Seems plausible that a sold out Army-Navy game could generate over $12M to the city.

It could have been a boon for Pittsburgh, but instead we're saddled with a sandlot playing surface that couldn't withstand the rigor if a Stiller game was scheduled on an adjacent day.

[GodfatherofSoul Profile]

For the idiots who pooh-poohed the idea of Pittsburgh applying to host the Army-Navy game, read here --

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 07247.html

Granted, the Army-Navy game wouldn't create quite this stir. However, it'd be a SELL OUT, and as this article noted, this greatly helps the revenues of taxis, hotels, restaurants, and so forth. Seems plausible that a sold out Army-Navy game could generate over $12M to the city.

It could have been a boon for Pittsburgh, but instead we're saddled with a sandlot playing surface that couldn't withstand the rigor if a Stiller game was scheduled on an adjacent day.

Your estimate is probably WAY off. What makes the real money is all the entourages, press corp, hardened fans, and merchants who pour into town IN ADDITION to the actual ticket holders for a big post-season game. You're not going to see anything like that for a regular season college game, even if it's marquee. Plus, they're going to be in town a lot longer. I'd guess more like a quarter of what the AFCCG will bring in.

Note, I'm not saying that hosting the game is a bad idea, but I don't think the economic benefit will be the same as you'd guess. But, one argument on your side is the PR factor of getting a lot of out-of-towners to check out the New Pittsburgh. I made my first trip there for the Dallas game and the town made quite an impression on me.