How Natural Disasters and Terrorist Attacks Affect Sports Analyzing September 11th, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina
9/11 Narrative Sports came to a halt NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB all canceled games “The only two things that got my mind off it for any period of time in the fall of 2001 were baseball and my son’s football games,” (Giuliani). Sports were an escape Piazza Hr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A3hmASpDqg
9/11 Financial Not too great of an impact Some people, like Howard Bloom, said they saw some tickets get as low as $50 for the Super Bowl Average ticket price still up according to SI Number of jobs and pay in sports stayed the same (43,689 in 2000 and 43,437 in 2002)
9/11 Security Saw biggest and most permanent change Patted down, dogs, helicopters, etc. Teams have terrorist insurance Olympics saw a huge increase Atlanta -$150 million Utah- $310 million Athens- $1.8 Billion
Katrina Narrative Saints were struggling, maybe going to be moved Storm damaged Super Dome 3-13 record in 2005 New coach, new quarterback, new star Rebuilding, like New Orleans ‘Not only is the burden and the pressure on them to win for those fans, but it’s also (for people) all across the Gulf Coast where Katrina hit,’ (Terry Bradshaw)
Katrina Financial Benefited the Saints 38% of $304 million renovation- FEMA Season ticket sales all time high for 2006 season Value from pre-Katrina was $718 million and $955 million in 2010
Conclusion Sports bring people together Look for escape Boston Marathon Bruins national anthem Red Sox ceremony Neil Diamond Sweet Caroline sales