Roger Goodell's NFL Lockout Might Fumble Away Your Fall Profits

I don't know about you, but if the NFL cancels this season, I am going to be bored out of my mind this fall and winter. The entire point of living in a state like Michigan is to enjoy really nice weather in the spring and summer, and then bunker down in the fall and winter, and watch playoff baseball, football, and the start of hockey season. Unfortunately, the NFL is currently shut down, as the players and owners cannot figure out how to split the billions and billions of dollars they take in every year. But the players and owners are not the only ones who will feel the crunch if the season doesn't happen this year. The NFL lockout has the power to affect more than just your level of boredom on this fall's Sundays, Monday nights, and the duration of Thanksgiving. Here are some stocks that might head south if the NFL stays locked out longer than Raj Rajaratnam will be locked up.

While hotels rely on a diverse crowd of customers, NFL visiting players and their fans (particularly during rivalry and playoff games) can really boost a hotel's occupancy rate. It might be worth looking at Hyatt Hotels Corporation

, Marriott International

, and Choice Hotels International

, for exposure to the greater hotel market.

Advertising firms compete for the right to make those amazing Super Bowl commercials that football fans talk about months after the game. You've also got to count the dozens of firms that sell highway advertising along the routes to the dozens of football stadiums and training facilities, who rely on football fans' eyeballs to sell those spaces. While the firms aren't likely to go bust without the dollars that football brings in, it could affect their overall profitability. Look at outdoor advert firms like Lamar Advertising Company

or Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings

to see if there is any short opportunity down the road.

Media companies could take two hits if the football season is delayed or, Zeus forbid, canceled. First, they're stuck filling those prime Sunday and Monday slots with something other than football (despite still forking over cash to the owners of NFL teams). While PBA bowling may be exciting for some folks, it's hardly going to draw in millions of viewers on Sunday afternoons, meaning media firms could lose billions in the long run. Second, most football media sites also offer fantasy football leagues, with both free and premium paid services. All that money would dry up (along with the web ad revenue) if the NFL remains locked out. While everyone will instantly think of ESPN-type companies, they'll be fine. But Yahoo

, which offers an amazing fantasy football website? They could take a hit.

I wouldn't want to own a sports bar if the NFL takes the year off. How will they fill seats and sell beers in between baseball's World Series and whenever the NHL/NBA season starts to get interesting (somewhere around the last quarter of the season)? Darts? NASCAR? Doubtful. How many pizza customers will find more free time to cook on Sundays, rather than indulge another large pepperoni? I would look at companies like Domino's Pizza, Inc.

and Buffalo Wild Wings

to see how they weather that potential storm.