The economics of LeBron James' decision

And even before the terms of James’ new long-term deal have been announced, the LeBron-onomics of the free agent frenzy that surrounded the 25-year-old these past nine days are plentiful.

A quick rundown of five fascinating facts:

1. Though a long shot, one of LeBron’s final team choices was the New York Knicks. In the days leading up to last night’s announcement, buzz began growing in the media that James would, indeed, sign with New York. This caused the stock of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the team, to soar 6.8 per cent on Wednesday afternoon. When a Thursday report stated that LeBron was leaning towards Miami and would almost certainly not sign with the Knicks, MSG’s share price plummeted thusly – by 4.1 per cent.

2. Preliminary estimates have been flying around, but now that LeBron has left Cleveland, his impact won’t just be on the depleted Cavs roster. According to Investopedia.com, LeBron’s bolting Cleveland will drop the franchise’s overall value by about $100 million, a 21 per cent hit.

3. Oh, and you think Cleveland itself isn’t pissed? There’s a spoof video online suggesting the city’s economy relies on LeBron James already (skip to 0:30), but there’s fire to that smoke. According to the Associated Press, Cleveland without LeBron could mean a hit of “tens of millions of dollars” to the city’s commerce and local businesses.

4. Meanwhile, think of the new cash in merchandising and ticket sales Miami is primed to rake in. No one out there will even speculate what LeBron’s presence in south Florida will mean to its team, but the Heat were forced to shut down their season ticket system this week after a flurry of Floridians inquired about seats. Look for ticket prices to rise significantly with LeBron joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the former Toronto Raptor who also signed with Miami this week.

5. There is one silver lining to last night’s debacle – which, don’t kid yourself, it was for every sports fan that doesn’t live in South Beach. LeBron announced his decision, as you no doubt know, on a live one-hour ESPN telecast. The program was such a hyped show that surely big-name advertisers were bound to come running, and they did: Coca-Cola, VitaminWater, McDonald’s, the University of Phoenix and Microsoft’s Bing all lent a hand. So LeBron and his PR team agreed to donate the commercial money raised from the special to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, who took home $2.5 million in cash last night.

“In one day, in one hour, he’s going to do something that’s going to help thousands of kids,” Frank Sanchez, a Boys & Girls Clubs of America VP, told the New York Times. “He didn’t have to do this – he could have just said it and walked away.”

Somewhere, there is a Cavaliers fan appreciative of LeBron’s charity last night. At press time, however, he was falling somewhere between the 25th and 24th floors of his Cleveland-area apartment building.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money