James Street Pub is seeing more empty chairs than usual because of the NHL lockout.
Downtown sports bars are bracing for the impact of what’s expected to be an extended NHL lockout, which one Centretown pub owner says could reduce revenues by up to 25 per cent and force job cuts.
The Ottawa Senators and 29 other NHL clubs across North America are widely expected to be out of action until at least December in a dispute over revenue-sharing between players, league bosses and team owners.
While the NHL lockout isn’t expected to seriously affect the overall economy of the city, some Ottawa businesses that rely on hockey fans’ spending – particularly pubs and sports stores that sell Senators paraphernalia – have said they expect to be hit hard by the cancellation or delayed start of the season.
“We all look forward to the hockey season as viewers and as business operators,” says Alex Munro, vice-president of business operations and development at Heart and Crown Irish Pubs, which owns the James Street Pub in Centretown. “Without it, we could see business levels down as much as 15 to 25 per cent.”
Munro said it’s likely the lockout will force the James Street Pub, located at the corner of Bank and James streets, as well as the company’s other locations to cut back staff.
But the NHL dispute isn’t likely to significantly affect the overall Ottawa economy unless general consumer spending is depressed, says Anthony Heyes, a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa.
Businesses such as restaurants that appeal to NHL fans will be most affected, he notes. But he adds there is some possibility that other businesses could be affected if hockey fans come to feel an important part of their lives are missing, affecting their attitudes at work and decreasing the amount of money they spend.
“Ottawa’s a hockey city,” says Hayes. “For a lot of city folk . . . a winter deprived of your passion is a long time, and a lot of people in the city will be hit by this – maybe not financially but emotionally.”
However, Heyes says there is no way of knowing for sure how the economy will be affected. It is possible hockey fans will spend more money on other attractions in the city, he says.
Kristin McCartney, the bar manager at Don Cherry’s Sports Grill on Rideau Street, says she is staying optimistic about the lockout and does not suspect a significant drop in business.
McCartney says the sports grill will promote other sports such as football and soccer for their customers to watch.
The sports grill will also offer specials on drinks during different games to attract hockey fans, including the estimated 100 regulars from nearby Centretown, adds McCartney.
Heyes advises businesses that may be affected by the lockout to diversify and appeal to different crowds, just as Don Cherry’s plans to do.
“Maybe this is the autumn to try to get fans behind the (Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa) 67’s, or some other sport,” he suggests.
The trick to keeping hockey fans happy over this season is to show them something else to be interested in, says McCartney.
But hockey fans might still feel depressed and stop spending, even with other things to do.
“Just as London is hoping for an economic boost from the ‘feel good factor’ brought on by the Olympics, Ottawa could be in for just the opposite,” says Heyes.