Father Jack Hackett
Striker
I still don't follow the logic at all. Why should it be down to a sporting club to take responsibility for trying to promote the local economy? If there are spin off benefits from the football club doing well, great. But how many other private businesses would be expected to take into account the impact of their decisions on the local economy. The core business is football. That is what the football club needs to get right. That's what the club has seemed to lose sight of in recent years, pissing around with Nelson Mandela museums and concerts while the debt spirals and performances on the pitch stagnate.
And that's before you get into considerations like how much a Beyoncé concert actually benefits the local economy, or how many of the club's fans would consider themselves part of the Sunderland economy, etc.
How many of the executive boxes do you think are taken by the local economy, not to mention matchday sponsors ans hospitality? How many fans with season tickets are directly affected by it? But aye, let's distance ourselves from them.