Premier League promotion to benefit Cardiff economy
5 May 2013
In addition to raising the City's profile on the world's football stage, the promotion of Cardiff City Football Club is expected to have a positive impact on the City's economy, bringing hundreds of additional jobs to Wales.
Cardiff Business School's Professor Calvin Jones, has forecasted that the impact of the club's promotion will be comparable to the impact of a large and medium-sized company – 600 or 700 jobs. He anticipates that the football club's rise into the UK's top-flight of football will be worth tens of millions of pounds annually to the City.
However Professor Jones cautioned against over-estimating the economic benefits of the promotion saying: "South Wales, which is a very poor economy relatively speaking, is still a £30bn economy - maybe more.
"When you look at that £30bn economy even the most successful sports teams and larger events are just tiny compared to the day-to-day business of an economy.
"To expect sport to engender a step change in levels of economic activity and growth is just expecting too much."
Recent research conducted by Professor Jones in collaboration with Professor Max Munday suggested that Swansea City's promotion to the Premier League in 2011 created 400 jobs and was worth £58m to the city.