CORTLAND — Hosting the New York Jets training camp this past summer generated more than $5.5 million in economic activity in Cortland County, according to a new study from three faculty members at the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland.
That’s down slightly from the $5.8 million generated in 2010, despite the fact that not as many practices were open to the public this year, according to the study. The number of public practices was lower than in 2009 and 2010 because of the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement.
Negotiations on that agreement led to the cancellation of the Jets Cortland training camp in 2011.
Nearly all the impact in the community, 89 percent, came from visitors who travelled to Cortland to see the Jets. They spent $2.6 million that would not have been received otherwise, according to the report.
The camp attracted visitors from 36 states and two Canadian provinces.
Revenue for local hotels rose 11 percent during the camp and room occupancy was up 9.2 percent compared with the same period in 2011, according to the report. Counties adjacent to Cortland County contributed 44 percent of the direct spending while other New York counties contributed 37 percent.
Out-of-state visitors accounted for 19 percent of the total spending, according to the report.
Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com