When you hear about stories of people affected by the NFL lockout, beyond fan's annoyance with the perceived battle of the rich, you might not pay attention because really, why should you care? However, teams have reduced employee payrolls, implemented furloughs and we're not talking about suit and ties. Not only that. Entire cities could be affected by this lockout, the longer it's delayed.
For the past 15 years, the city of Georgetown, Kentucky has greatly benefited from the Cincinnati Bengals annual training camp. Along with players, coaches, front office personnel, the city plays host to many employees that do much of the hard work making sure Training Camp runs smoothly. Even more impressively and beneficial, Bengals fans make the journey to watch practice for vindication that the season.
And all of those people buy stuff at Georgetown.
According to Ryan Dearbone of WTVQ, the Bengals "usually boosts the city's economy by about $3 million a year."
If you come into historic Fava's Restaurant in downtown Georgetown during Bengals training camp, you might get an NFL-sized meal.
"Every year we have a Bengal Burger with Curly Tiger Tails and that boosts our sales during this time," says Jeni Grucow of Fava's.
The meal only hits the menu during training camp.
"We might not get but a few of the Bengals, see a few of the Bengals. But we'll get a lot of families that come down and bring their kids and they're all dressed up in the Bengals colors. They just come to watch them practice," says Grucow.