Understanding the Economic Crisis
Why the NFL's Layoff of Ten Percent of Its Workforce is an Indicator
Mar 20, 2009
One does not have to be a Nobel Laureate in Economics to figure out that the current economic conditions in America are in a free fall. Most experts claim it’s the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the late 1920’s. How does the average American sift though the statements of the partisan pundits? How do we really know? Is it the ever increasing unemployment rate? The skyrocketing national debt? The oft criticized federal bailout of our banking system and largest insurer? The all-time low of the Consumer Confidence Index? The erratic stock market and 401k performance? Lower new home sales and higher foreclosures? In theory, all of these are used to varying degrees, in addition to several others, to determine the prowess or fledgling of our economy.
Economic Indicators
For the general population, however, most of these economic indicators are not commonly known or understood. Their 401k may be half of what it was a year ago, but most 401k participants are of an age where waiting it out is an acceptable outcome. So is there one economic indicator that the general populous can rely on to give them the true state of the economy? Is there a bipartisan source that one can easily decipher and see the forest for the trees? The answer is yes, albeit from one of the unlikeliest sources. It is a pillar of many American families and has been a long revered Sunday tradition. With all due respect to the faith-based community, this pillar and tradition is much less historical and is generally much more costly to attend for the American family. It’s the National Football League.
NFL Layoffs
Forbes magazine recently called the NFL “the richest game” and the “strongest sport in the world.” With its $6.5 billion in annual revenues, it would land somewhere around 375 on the Fortune 500 list if the current methodology included sports leagues. So when the NFL announced in early December it was laying off more than 10 percent of its workforce by February 2009, not including any cuts from individual teams, it sent shockwaves through the industry and provided the uninformed, skeptical, and apathetic populations the bipartisan economic indicator it needed.
Recession 2009
The fledgling of the big three automakers, the laughable bailout of AIG, the American Express Chief warning other CEO’s to plan for the possibility of a long recession, the lackluster retail sales over the recent holiday season, and the uncertainty of a new president are certainly newsworthy. They are easy targets to spike TV ratings and newspaper circulation. But when the undisputed champion of American sports and the world's largest employer start laying off employees, it’s probably a good idea to start hunkering down in preparation for recessionary hibernation. The NFL and Wal-Mart have already complied in 2009.
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