LA County to get a boost from College Football Playoff game at SoFi Stadium

This weekend, Terry Dulan expects he’ll be slinging Southern food as fast as he can as the crowds descend for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen is less than a mile from SoFi Stadium where the game takes place Monday, Jan. 9.

The 70,240-seat venue has plenty of room for soul food fans from Texas and Georgia, the restaurant owner said. “I anticipate that whoever loves Southern food will be coming here.”

The eatery specializes in a variety of Southern dishes, ranging from fried chicken, black-eyed peas and macaroni and cheese, to cornbread dressing, collard greens and candied yams.

Dulan is expecting a 15% bump in business. “Sunday is our busiest day, so I’m expecting people will hang out over the weekend before going to the game on Monday.”

He and Los Angeles County could score the equivalent of an economic touchdown thanks to the game between TCU and Georgia. One study expects it will generate $155 million to $225 million in economic benefits for the county. Micronomics, a Long Beach research and consulting firm, also predicts the game will produce $7 million to $10 million in tax revenue for the region and create up to 1,900 new jobs.

Those gains — some of which have already taken root leading up to the game — are based heavily on increased business at area hotels, entertainment venues and retail businesses.

“Hosting the College Football Playoff National Championship provides us yet another extraordinary opportunity to boost our workforce and celebrate LA on a global stage,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said when LA was selected in 2017 to host the event.

Inglewood, which captured 10% to 11% of the county’s economic benefits from last year’s Super Bowl LVI at SoFi, will likely snag the same share for Monday’s game. That equates to roughly $16 million on the low end and $23 million on the high end, according to Ryan Smart, an economist and principal at Micronomics.

Micronomics recently estimated the economic impact of Super Bowl LVI on Los Angeles County at up to $477 million.

“The short- and long-term benefits of previous CFP National Championships are well-documented,” the report said. “These include lasting recognition that comes with unparalleled exposure, community service events surrounding the championship and a significant boost to the regional economy.”

Micronomics acknowleges the financial gains depend on various factors, including weather, economic conditions at the time of the event and the spending habits and preferences of visitors.

Still, the research firm said studies of recent CFP National Championships indicate that, while the economic impact varies from year to year, it’s always significant and typically generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the host regions.

Others would likely say the numbers are overstated.

A 2001 article in The Sports Journal notes that such studies typically ignore the “substitution effect.” In the case of Monday’s CFP game, this happens when Southern California consumers simply reallocate a portion of their regular spending to spending associated with the game.

The article also notes that non-economic impacts, such as traffic congestion, vandalism and the disruption of residents’ lifestyles, are rarely figured into economic impact reports.

Most of the new jobs generated by Monday’s game are expected to come from full-service and limited-service restaurants and the hotel/ motel industry. But significant gains are also expected in commercial sports (excluding racing), clothing, clothing accessories stores and other retail outlets.

The Micronomics study — sponsored by the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission — predicts LA County will get anywhere from 46,000 to 65,000 out-of-town visitors for the game, boosting hotel occupancy rates. The report also says the game will generate 69,000-97,500 room-night bookings throughout the county.

The 50-room LAX Stadium Inn still had openings on Thursday, but desk clerk Maria Padilla said business will be picking up. The hotel is 10 minutes from SoFi.

“We get a lot of last-minute bookings, and our prices will be going up,” she said. “Our rooms normally rent for $80 to $85 a night, but that will jump to $120 to $228 a night over the weekend.”

The report predicts the game will draw 26 million TV viewers while attracting more than 1 million Twitter and Instagram followers.

Monday’s game could be dampened as cloudy weather and rain continue. The report also notes that fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could reduce the turnout.

“Although resumption of in-person sporting events generally has been positive, it is possible that lingering effects of the pandemic on willingness to travel and consumer behavior could adversely impact what otherwise will be another spectacular event for Los Angeles County,” Micronomics said.