Is the Local NFL Team Hurting the Local College Team and the Local Economy?

It's is not impossible for colleges to win or have great attendance with NFL teams next door. It's just harder. That's not good for the college teams, the college's educational and research programs, or the local economies that benefit from the college's presence, argues attorney and football fan Bill Adams.

Using his own city's (San Diego) NCAA and NFL football teams as examples, the latter of which maybe headed to Los Angeles, he cites several studies and articles to make a step by step case that: 1) colleges are important to local economies—much more so than NFL teams; 2) winning college football programs boost the number and quality of new student applications; 3) more and better new student applications result in greater funding and growth of the college; 4) the growth of the college increases the benefit to the local economy; 5) NFL teams compete with local colleges for football fans resulting in diminished attendance at college games; 6) diminished attendance means diminished support for college football; 7) diminished support means diminished success over the long haul; and 8) diminished football success reduces the number and quality of new student applications.  

Obviously, a college's football program can still be successful with the NFL in town because a college can be successful without any football program. However, the presence of an NFL team is a negative pressure on a college's football program and, in turn, the college itself. It's an additional obstacle that some programs can overcome and some cannot. Therefore, if you are a football fan who likes both your NFL team and your college team, maybe its time to make a choice.