Decoding Dwight Howard’s Impact On Orlando’s Economy

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s NBA free agent Dwight Howard flying out of Orlando, Fla. before the trade deadline. Since the eventual start of shortened NBA season, the Orlando Magic center has been expressing a desire to explore his options with other teams. The team’s General Manager Otis Smith has given Howard permission to discuss a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets and Los Angles Lakers but as of press time no deals have been struck. Howard has until the NBA trade deadline of March 15, or until after the season, to make a decision.

With this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend being held in Orlando, Howard find himself in an even brighter spotlight to showcase his talents as his jersey change seems inevitable. While that is sure to mean a boost in his salary and brand awareness, the same might not bode for his current team. Orlando is a one-sport town, with Howard as its only franchise player. With an impact off the court just as big as his impact on the court, what will happen to Orlando’s economy if Superman flies the coop?

According to ESPN, Howard’s arrival in 2004 sparked an 18.2 percent increase in game attendance for the Magic. The Orlando Business Journal also wrote, “If a fan purchases a meal and a souvenir in the downtown area before or after a game, Howard’s economic impact could exceed $2.2 million during an 82-game basketball season.” Proof of the city of Orlando’s belief in their franchise player was the 2010 completion of the Amway Center, a $480 million, 18,800-seat arena, which Howard has reigned in for just one full season. Should the all-star center skip town and the team be left with no marquee players the arena, two-thirds of which was funded by the public, could wind up being a premature investment.

“A loss of the big man, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, would mean a big loss in our Central Florida economy,” Florida State Representative Dwayne Taylor

said in a tribute to Howard. “Dwight has been an active participant in the community so, stay, Dwight, stay!”

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Orlando’s Downtown Development Board/Community Redevelopment Agency also recognizes Howard’s importance as they support the “Stay Dwight” campaign. In fact, the Downtown Orlando Website states, “Dwight Howard is huge for our economy and to lose him would leave the city stunned.” This wouldn’t be the first time the Magic have lost a superstar due to a trade. In 1996, rising star Shaquille O’Neal left town and went on to win three NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and one more with the Miami Heat. “Rooting for the Magic seemed pointless after Shaquille left,” said Chris Humphries of SportsChump.net. “It was a long time before we had anything good to cheer about again. The same can be said about a Dwight-less Magic.”

However, NBA Commissioner David Stern says O’Neal’s departure from Orlando is an example of how the city can fare well if Howard leaves. “I remember there was this other large person, now a television commentator, that once left,” Stern said to the Orlando Sentinel. “And I think that I saw Orlando blossom and thrive and build a new arena… so I think this is not a life-threatening event when players move. It depends upon who replaces them and how the community rallies around them.”

If Howard does go, Orlando’s economy will still be centered on its main cash cow, Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney World and its related businesses in Florida have generated an estimated $18.2 billion a year in economic activity and one out of every 50 jobs in the state, according to a study released by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. But with Disney approximately 22 miles from Downtown Orlando, business directly surrounding Amway Center may still suffer. “We can get nights after games where it gets very busy from Magic fans,” says Patti Schmidt

, owner of The Dessert Lady, a sweets shop on Church Street just one block from the Amway Center. “Before the Amway Center opened, things were pretty bad. Now it’s thrilling for us to see people coming downtown to the shop again.”

A city that may be able to console Orlando on the issue of superstar departure is Cleveland, Ohio. At one point former Cavaliers‘ superstar, LeBron James was described as a “one-man economic engine that drives the lane, fills the bars and puts Cleveland on national TV,” by the Cleveland Post Dispatch. When James departed, it was estimated $48 million of Downtown Cleveland’s economy would go also. Schmidt has brighter hopes for her hometown: “I’m not going to go there and think that Downtown Orlando will become some desolate desert town if Dwight Howard left.”