Conflating Waco's poor economy with Baylor sports is kind of silly... For years, and into today, the vast majority of jobs in Waco were minimum wage with zero chance for advancement. But...
SpaceX didn't choose McGregor because RG3 won the Heisman. They came in before he was even a thought. It's been a relative boom to Waco and other local communities.
Chip and Joanna Gaines have done more renovation to Waco than Baylor has. They also bring in people, tourists who use those hotels, from all over the world.
The world.
Baylor, on the other hand, used to buy up all the liquor licenses to prevent bars from opening, stifling local businesses. The city of Waco finally put an end to that which is why Waco is recently becoming an actually fun place to go. That's not sports related, but more to point out that Baylor isn't "pro-local economy" especially just because the football team suddenly became relevant... because that was going on past when I graduated... after we finally hit the national stage.
Yes, building the new stadium created lots of jobs, but the stadium is now built... Baylor football isn't funding the rebuild of I-35... and Baylor uses the student body to staff most of their sporting needs. Professors most often get hired and become locals rather than the other way around. Plus, non-Baylor locals might staff the concessions at sporting events, but it's likely a company like Aramark that hires and pays them similar to every other major sporting venue... and it's minimum wage for a few hours once or twice a week, not really career foundation stuff... The administration jobs have been there since before Baylor was relevant. The cops have been there since before Baylor was relevant. The cleaning staff was there before Baylor was relevant. All the non-Baylor local jobs provided by Baylor have been there since before Baylor was relevant.
Dia del Oso was there before Baylor was relevant. Greek life was there before Baylor was relevant. The BSB was there before Baylor was relevant.
Without Googling, name one medical innovation that has come out of Alabama.
Meanwhile, Baylor has made several cancer treatment breakthroughs. How many points did Griner have to score before that treatment was finally revealed? Unless... cancer research and treatment have been there since before Baylor was relevant...
Our law school is very good, and it's been that way since before Baylor was relevant.
MEANWHILE we can all think of a recent event in which Baylor football has brought... not sports relevancy... but infamy... and yet, Waco seems to still be on the rise. Applications are still plentiful... That's even completely glossing over the time a Baylor basketball player literally murdered another Baylor basketball player due to being paid more to play for Baylor or (slightly less egregious) how the women's basketball team is notorious for going to local restaurants and leaving without paying...
It's not like Baylor did what Arlington did and built nightlife around their sports teams either. There are no restaurants near the stadiums or anything. I mean, there's Buzzard Billy's, but... you have to cross a freeway to get there. That doesn't count.
Anyways... It's just sports. Monetarily, the only one that brings in huge money is football, and their past behavior has shown, to me, that they're not super relevant to the Waco economy.