How Leeds United's Premier League survival will impact local economy
On 22 May, Dr Mike Reynolds, a teaching fellow in economics, was quoted in an article published by PlanetSport.com.
In the article titled ‘Exclusive: How Leeds United's Premier League survival will impact local economy’, Dr Mike Reynolds proposes that Leeds being relegated doesn’t pose the risk that you might think it does. Though there may a loss of revenue from media coverage, the city will likely remain busy on matchday.
If you've got a set of fans who are really happy, they are more likely to spend money on a matchday. Maybe there's a bit of that. So if Leeds go down, but they're winning games, I think you'll have that buoyant atmosphere, that feel good factor gets people to spend. If they go down and don't do so well, that's when I start to worry that the stadium won't be so full.
"If Leeds go down and they do well, then I think that's going to be ok in terms of maintaining matchday revenue, matchday feeling around the city and spending around the city. But if they go down and don't do so well, it could spiral.
In summary, Dr Reynolds suggests that relegation would not be the doom and gloom to Leeds that some fear it could be:
It's important that if Leeds go down, they bounce straight back up in terms of the local economy. Which is by no means guaranteed. But I think that is the important thing in terms of maintaining that feel good factor and people wanting to come to the city to see a successful club. That's still possible in the Championship.
