That’s according to a study that three faculty members at the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Cortland conducted.
The study found roughly 21,000 visitors from 34 states and five countries spent more than $1.6 million locally, creating an impact of nearly $3 million.
The study’s authors included Kathleen Burke, an economics professor; Wendy Miller, assistant professor of geography; and Timothy Phillips, assistant professor of geography.
“We’ve actually conducted it [a similar study] every year the Jets have been here,” says Burke.
The effort is intended to determine the financial impact on Cortland, which Burke describes as a “rural community.” It’s located along Interstate 81 between Syracuse and Binghamton.
Having SUNY Cortland host the New York Jets’ football training camp and the visitors it attracts are a “huge economic boon” for the community, which helps in getting the Cortland name “out across the nation,” Burke says.
The four New York Jets training camps hosted at SUNY Cortland since 2009 have created $19.24 million in economic impact on Cortland County, the study found.
The 2013 attendance and economic-impact numbers are down compared to the figures from the 2012 training camp.
In 2012, despite the Jets cutting the number of public training-camp practices in half, the presence of former “high-profile” quarterback Tim Tebow and “extensive” coverage from national media outlets such as ESPN made up for an anticipated drop-off in economic impact and attendance, according to the report.
Those factors contributed to a $5.5 million economic impact and 35,634 visitors in 2012.
When asked about the decline in attendance and economic impact from this past August, Burke noted that the Jets won only six games during their 2012 NFL season.
“And this current year, they didn’t really have that marquee player [coming to camp] … that other people would come out to see,” she says.
The Jets’ training annually attracts the “die hards,” she says, meaning those football fans who visit the camp every year no matter who is on the roster.
She also notes the percentage of out-of-state visitors who stay in local hotels (about 14 percent) is “roughly the same” from year to year.
Although local hotel revenue and occupancy decreased slightly from 2012, both increased from 2011 when the training camp was held in Florham Park, N.J., due to the NFL lockout.
Hotel revenue increased 9.1 percent and occupancy went up 6.2 percent in 2013 compared to 2011, the report found.
Gathering the data
With clipboards in hand, Burke had about five SUNY Cortland students involved in the data-gathering process, earning internship credit in the process, Burke says.
“Basically every visitor was asked to fill out the survey,” she adds.
Survey data is based on responses from nearly 7,300 people, according to the report.
After collecting the data, the students helped Burke and her team as they “crunched the numbers.”
More than $2 million in direct spending by training-camp spectators (more than $1.6 million), the college ($385,000) and local government (about $7,000) generated about $3.68 million in total economic activity for the region, the study found.
Training-camp visitors created most (about 81 percent) of the impact in Cortland County. The attendance figures included representation from all but four of New York’s 62 counties.
More than half of the training camp’s spectators attended a Jets football practice in Cortland for the first time. About 18 percent of all attendees came from outside New York.
Central New Yorkers in Cortland County and adjacent counties contributed 42 percent of the direct spending (more than $684,000). At the same time, other New York counties accounted for 37 percent (about $600,000). Visitors from outside the state added 21 percent ($344,000).
The authors used a multiplier to determine the financial impact of the spending involved, Burke says.
The report describes the multiplier effect this way: “…for every dollar expended, that dollar has a reoccurring impact in the economy due to its re-expenditure within the local community.”
The size of the multiplier is dependent upon the economic region, according to the report.
The multiplier used in this study, generated by RIMS II through the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is 1.8, according to the report.
The final report also highlighted some of the unquantifiable value that comes with training camp.
“The benefits that SUNY Cortland derived from all the media exposure on a state and national level are immeasurable,” the study states, mentioning coverage from well-known news organizations such as ESPN, The New York Times, and Newsday.
The report also noted how SUNY Cortland benefits as “the official university partner of the New York Jets.”
Those include more than 50 student internships as well as two open houses for prospective students and high school guidance counselors held at the football team’s facilities in New Jersey.
The SUNY Cortland logo also is featured on the 360-degree LED signage at MetLife Stadium during the team’s preseason and regular season home games.
In addition, the Jets provide SUNY Cortland four season tickets and two Super Bowl tickets, which the school raffles to support student scholarships and alumni programming efforts, the report stated.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com