Lafayette vs. Lehigh and the 150th game of The Rivalry

This weekend, I went up to New York City to the 150th football game between Lafayette College and Lehigh University.  Though both schools are in eastern Pennsylvania, the game was held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, selling out the stadium with 3 times the number of tickets typical for the sell-out games between the schools on their campuses.  As is my way, I played with numbers in my head on my way home to DC on the train after Lafayette routed the trash of the earth, Lehigh 27-7.  (There was even a video on the stadium screen of Sean Hannity rooting for Lehigh, added proof they are low life bottom feeders)  Oh, yes, I went to Lafayette.

Fun with numbers:

There were about 40,000 alumni of the two schools at Yankee stadium (almost everyone there was an alum or spouse of one of the schools.  No one else would have any reason to care).  Let's assume a MODEST average annual income of $50,000 of those present (those who are not very successful would not want to show up to such a reunion event for fear of hearing how successful their peers are.  Trust me, it was hard enough for me and I'm happy with my lot in life.  Well, I thought I was until Saturday).  So a lowball estimate for the total annual income of those present was 40,000 x 50,000 = 2,000,000,000, though it's almost certainly substantially greater, perhaps twice that.

Annual income of those at game = 2 billion dollars.

An estimate of the wealth would require more assumptions.  Let's say most folk in the stands came in pairs.  Let's say each pair owns a house.  Let's say most live in the NE corridor, home to above average house prices, so we'll use 300,000 for a house price.  Let's say most have some retirement funds and stocks saved, so let's assume a modest 50,000 saved.  Again very lowball estimate, as many grads from both places find themselves in the top tier of national income.  So the wealth would be .5 x 40,000 x 300,000 + 40,000 x 50,000 = 6,000,000,000 + 2,000,000,000

Net worth of those at the game = 8 billion dollars. 

There were probably about 5,000 current students of Lafayette and Lehigh in the stadium.  The average cost per student for a degree is 200,000 dollars though some of the cost is born by the institutions in financial aid, most is born by the students' families or by loans.  So the total investment of the colleges, families, and loans in just the students' college education is 5,000 x 200,000 = 1,000,000,000

Cost of education of students at the game = 1 billion dollars

This year's game would have been in Easton, PA had the colleges not gone for probably a very lucrative deal between their respective athletic departments and Yankee Stadium.  Thousands of people would have patronized the hotels, restaurants, and other retail of the Lehigh Valley,  Let's say 10,000 people would spend an a lowball average on $100 each on hotel, meals, and other purchases in the valley.  So the local businesses lost 10,000 x 100 = 1,000,000 dollars.  That calculation is probably on the low side.

Those 40,000 people bought tickets for the game of their alumni lives.  A low ball guestimate on what the the Yankees earned per person would be about 60 dollars between tickets and food concessions.  So earnings for the day would be about 40,000 x 60 = 2,400,000.  Now they do pay their staff present for security, sales, and clean up at the game.  Let's say 3,000 people an average of $150 for the workday or 3,000 x 150 = 450,000.  So The Yankees netted close to 2 million dollars on the day, minus normal overhead costs for a baseball stadium in November--um, nothing--and the cuts the two colleges got from the proceeds.  But the New York Yankees probably needed that money more than the business of Easton and the other towns in eastern PA.

To sum up:

1.  Income of those at the game - at least 2 billion dollars  

2.  Wealth of those at the game - at least 8 billion dollars 

3.  Investment in college education of the students at the game - about 1 billion dollars 

4.  Money lost by Lehigh Valley merchants by moving the game - about 1 million dollars 

5.  Money made by Yankee Stadium, Lafayette and Lehigh by moving the game - about 2 million dollars

Ok, it sounds like I'm casting stones about the choice and the wealth of the schools, the relentless chase after money of both our alma maters and ourselves.  To an extent, yes, but had the game not been at Yankee Stadium I would have had no interest in going, apart from maybe watching it in a bar in DC, which I did last year for the first time in over 30 years.  

It was fun to be in the city for the game.  The Empire State Building was lit up in our school colors.   We spent hours shopping for books at the Strand.  While standing on a street corner down in the village wearing a Lafayette sweatshirt after having breakfast with old friends, people would shout "Go Pards" or "Boo Lafayette" as they walked by, even down there (I can't imagine what it was like up near Times Square).  A cab pulled up, a guy shouted "Boo Lafayette" out the window and closed it, to the dismay of the cabbie.  I chatted with someone wearing a Lafayette hat on the subway on the way to the game who was the daughter of the one of the members of the social elite of Lafayette College during my days there (she was a multi-generation legacy, with family members on the board of trustees).  Chatted with a guy in line to the bathroom at the stadium who had travelled to the same villages on the Irish coast I had wandered 20 years ago.  Watched a football game in a stadium for the first time in decades.

And because I went, I saw old friends I haven't seen in decades and had a wonderful time.  We even began the process of re-connection after years busy with career, family, and life.  Even make plans for future get togethers.  So it was worth it.  I even have a picture.