Money Tale of Two Cities as LeBron Heads South

While LeBron James bolting from the Cleveland Cavaliers had Cavs fans seeing him as a traitor and burning his jersey, it had fans of the team he's heading to, the Miami Heat, celebrating on the streets after his announcement Thursday night. And some 13,000 of them packed the Heat's home, the American Airlines Arena, for a hero's welcome Friday.

They also cheered Dwayne Wade, the superstar who's already known championship glory with the Heat, and Chris Bosh, the star who's joining them in South Beach.

And while there's no doubt Miami's economy will get a giant shot in the arm from LeBron's arrival, and Cleveland's will suffer, the Heat still have to win to make the money impact even more pronounced - and Cleveland still has attractions worthy of tourist and local dollars, according to one expert.

Rick Horrow, a sports business analyst and author of "Beyond the Box Score," called LeBron "a walking, talking, living, breathing, free-throw-shooting stimulus plan, and he took his industry to Miami and beat out six other markets."

"So," Horrow told co-anchor Chris Wragge on "The Early Show on Saturday Morning," "it's the psychic satisfaction of winning this industrial relocation derby. Also, maybe up to $2 billion, according to a Chicago economist" who applied the financial effect LeBron would have had on the Bulls (had he chosen the Windy City as his new home) to Miami.

"But," Horrow cautioned, "(the Heat have to) win. This is the big issue now. They now have to win not only once, but multiple championships."

Wragge pointed out that, even though the Cavs never won a championship with LeBron, economists estimate he was responsible for as much as $100 million a year in added revenue just by playing in Cleveland.

Morrow said some 6,000 jobs in the area of the Cavs' arena were indirectly attributed to LeBron being there.

Morrow added that the Heat are paying LeBron, Wade and Bosh a combined $300 million - more than ten times what the whole Heat franchise was worth when it was spawned 20 years ago.

Morrow put the loss to Cleveland in perspective, saying, "They were talking about a nuclear bomb. It's not that. But this is just another in a long line of issues that the community has to get over. And the bottom line of all this is, he couldn't make everybody happy. You can't go to six markets at once.

"This guy leaves the city and plies his trade in Miami. And of course, now they focus on the Rock 'n' Roll hall of fame, they focus on their (football) Browns, they focus on their (baseball) Indians. Cavaliers (fans)may want to wait a little while.

More LeBron James Coverage:

LeBron's Breakup with Cleveland is Personal
LeBron Draws Huge TV Ratings, Especially in Ohio
ESPN's LeBron-a-thon: The Mother of all Televised Shams
Cavs Owner: LeBron Move "Cowardly Betrayal"
LeBron Gets Cheers in Miami, Jeers in Cleveland
LeBron James Picks Miami Heat as New Team
Jim Gray: Dan Gilbert Will Regret Dissing LeBron
CBSSports.com's Ken Berger: Pick Changes Landscape
CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman: No Title Lock for Heat