The economy's bearing on the NFL

<em>Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky</em> <p>In a pre-combine chat with Bill Polian, I asked the Colts president <a href="/blogs/afcsouth/0-7-531/Will-the-economy-affect-free-agency-s-economics-.html" target="_blank">about the economy</a> and how he expected it would affect free agency. We're about to find out.</p> <p>While we were in Indianapolis for the combine, several of us explored the topic further and made small contributions to a big project that is now up at ESPN.com. A day after the specifics of cuts and reductions <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6281447.html" target="_blank">at the league</a> offices and Roger Goodell's voluntarily trimming his salary, take a look <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=yasinskas_pat&id=3933628" target="_blank">at this piece</a> by NFC South connoisseur Pat Yasinskas.</p> <p>Texans GM Rick Smith and Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt are part of the story.</p> <p>I thought Smith had a smart and interesteing answer about a level of this we don't often think about when I asked why things would be impacted so long as TV money and salary cap space aren't altered by the recession:</p> <blockquote> <p>Those numbers might be the same but then you have to look at the overall revenue streams. Our industry is affected by the economy not just by revenue issues. Some of those numbers may be consistent. But other numbers aren't, generating revenue locally and with advertisers, you look at some of the people we're in business with as a league and some of the struggles they're having, that stuff impacts our league.</p> </blockquote>

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