Introduction
So, what is this site all about
Purpose of the web site
This web project is an assignment for Geography 355 at Simon Fraser University . We are to show-case our skills in spatial analysis and web site design that we have obtained during the fall semester.
History of my project
I had chosen the NFL as a topic for my project initially because of my friend in the computer science department had just received a contract with the NFL to create a scheduling program for them. I initially thought I was going to create an alternative schedule using GIS methods to look at travel time, distance, tv market, etc. Then I would compare my results with the program that the computer science 'geeks' came up with. As I continued to look into the problem I discovered my original project was unfeasible for a couple of reasons.- Scheduling is as much a temporal problem as a spatial
- The 'geek' scheduling program would be completed in March
- Adequate knowledge of the problem is
not available
Needing a topic for this assignment I stuck with the NFL and augmented the project into a question of team location. If the NFL team owners are located to maximize their profits by covering the greatest fan base and tv market.
Importance
The significance of this project would be simply MONEY. NFL franchises are rare with only 31 in the world. By most accounts they all do very well financially and by limiting the exclusive club of owners they drive up the market value of all teams. Profit drives team owners. Having more money is always important to multimillionaires. With this project the prime locations across the US could be determined for locating a NFL stadium for maximum benefit from population distribution. The NFL works on a profit sharing model so the desire to take away from others market share is not as strong as in Major League Baseball. The TV rights are not to local independent stations, so a greater area coverage would be better for the entire NFL.Other professional examples
BaseBall was force to release its financial
figures recently because they were crying wolf about how much money they were
losing and the need of public subsidy to keep "America's Game" afloat. The
numbers they produced can be found at ESPN .But not to worry, the teams are not going to fold because most sources say these numbers are as skewed as ENRON accounts. More accurate figures are found at CBS sports line with Forbes reporting most teams are in the black.
This is an example of professional sports teams using every means they have to ensure profitability. The NFL and other professional sports teams are discussed in detail of how they threaten mobility to gain improved services here .
Intended Audience
As stated earlier the project is intended to be evaluated
for its spatial analysis merits.
Beyond that the NFL is extremely sensitive about keeping their
financial numbers to themselves
So this is an exercise in target population location with best estimates
and justification for numbers used in my analysis. The NFL may choose
to look at this evaluation with serious interest, or they may have knowledge
about financial perks and tax breaks in particular states that superseded
this spatial analysis.
Quick Figures
Official overall paid attendance in the NFL
for the 2001 season was 16,244,538 for an average per game crowd of 65,502
over 248 games.
TV ratings for games ranges from 7 - 17 % of the viewing public.
Merchandise sales total about $300 million annually.
These sources of income will be used in the
analysis of locations of NFL Teams.
The financial numbers are excellent but there
is always need for improvement.