Last year more than 20,000 people visited SUNY Cortland during the summer to watch the New York Jets training camp, bringing with them over $20 million for the local economy.

Now that the Jets have fired Head Coach Rex Ryan, who moved the team to Cortland in 2009, Senator Charles Schumer is calling on 'Gang Green' to return and consider making SUNY Cortland a permanent training camp home.

In addition to providing a huge economic boost to Cortland County and Central New York, Schumer said, New York State has invested close to $600,000 to provide the team with the best facilities possible. And in 2014, the SUNY System spent nearly $500,000 to accommodate the team on its Cortland campus.

While there is no contract in place to keep the Jets in Cortland, Schumer has personally reached out to Jets Owner Woody Johnson, asking him to keep training camp in Central New York, but Johnson says no decision has been made.

“The Jets’ annual summer training camp at SUNY Cortland provides a real shot in the arm to the local economy and gives local football fans an opportunity to see their favorite players in person. Visitors come from all over the state, country and world to see the Jets practice at Cortland, and while they are here, they spend money in local hotels, restaurants and stores,” said Schumer. “If the Jets were to move their training camp away from Cortland, it would be a real loss for football fans around the region and for the Central New York economy. A move elsewhere is simply unacceptable. So I am calling on the Jets to ‘S-T-A-Y Stay Stay Stay’ in Cortland. Jets training camp provides Cortland with national exposure and the SUNY Cortland community with innumerable benefits, and I will do whatever it takes to keep the Jets’ training camp in Central New York, where it belongs.”

A report prepared by SUNY Cortland professors shows that since the Jets made the move to Cortland in 2009, more than 150,000 visitors have attended the practices adding close to $24 million in economic activity or almost $5 million a year.

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