If the NFL’s lockout lasts five months or more, and training camps are affected, the places that host those camps are going to be hurt.
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that the Jets’ training camp host, the State University of New York College at Cortland, has a clause in its contract with the Jets that would require the team to extend its stay for another year if this year’s training camp is canceled. So while the current contract goes through 2012, the Jets would have to stay through at least 2013 if this year’s camp is canceled.
But the hosts are hoping it doesn’t come to that, because the area would lose significant money if the Jets don’t come to town this summer. Jets training camp attracts more than 40,000 visitors annually and is estimated to have an economic impact of between $4 million and $5 million on the area.