Economically, DeSantis has shot Florida in the foot.
How? Disney can't just pick up an leave.
You say that, but... The reality is that
they can. They have theme parks the world over, as well as studios elsewhere than florida, and enough money to relocate their Florida studios and all the employees they can. They can go anywhere, and the effort will be generally welcomed in... Well, damn near anywhere they decide to go.
They probably already made plans before this happened.
They’d have to dismantle their entire theme parks, including rides and other attractions. They’d have to find a suitable place to rebuild them too. They’ve already got a park in california, thus where? It needs to be warm so it can operate year round. Maybe Louisiana?
But how quickly could it be done? Would they shut down operations in Florida first? If so, how much revenue would they lose? Their stock price would take a huge cut.
There’s a far simpler way for Disney to get revenge. It generates something like 70-80 billion in revenue. It spends tens of milllions just in state lobbying. It has the states most powerful lobbyists by far. Politicians listen to that money. They need only turn off the coffers to the Republican candidates and give it all to the Democratic candidates, and I suspect they’ll come howling back.
And it isn’t just Disney, it’s every associated business with it. They control the lobbying efforts of many affiliated entities. You do business with Disney, you do what they say.