Shocker: NHL lockout is ravaging businesses near arenas
NHL players and owners are back negotiating again in New York, and wouldn’t you know it the latest reports have floated some optimism that the season might be saved.
Fine, like you lost interest reading that first sentence, don’t think it was much easier to type. Hockey is among the world’s worst conversation topics today, the sport having been reduced to a putrid dialogue about dollars, TV contracts and public posturing. Wake us up when someone’s back on the ice.
Yet all throughout the yet-to-be NHL season, we’ve always heard, though rarely in quantified terms, how much the lockout was hurting more than just the players. It was, supposedly, severing business to every bar owner and memorabilia dealer that relied on the game.
Now, we get a sense of who it’s hurting, and by just how much.
According to a new report, the NHL lockout is having a resounding impact on restaurants and merchants who make their bucks near hockey arenas.
*Bing: Where are hockey tickets cheapest in Canada?
Credit and debit card processor Moneris just released a survey that suggests overall spending at venues near Canada’s hockey arenas is down 11 per cent from a year ago on a game day.
The report considered businesses near Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome, Edmonton’s Rexall Place, Winnipeg’s MTS Centre, Toronto’s Air Canada Centre and Montreal’s Bell Centre.
That 11 per cent figure, of course, is an average. Restaurants surveyed by Moneris, for example, said their business was down 11 per cent from a year ago on a game day, but it’s been much worse for some: other bars and pubs – “drinking establishments” – are down a whopping 35 per cent from a year ago on a game day.
Edmonton’s businesses have had it worst. Those near Rexall Place are down 27 per cent in sales from a year ago on a game day.
If we’re to spin this story in the right way, Moneris’ survey appears to show that at least consumers are still spending their hockey money, albeit not near the bloated, overpriced businesses close to Canada’s pro hockey arenas.
Instead, according to Moneris, merchants away from arenas have gotten a boom from the ongoing lockout, with spending at those businesses up 5.4 per cent from a year ago on a game day.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Eric Brewster | Dec 5, 2021 11:29:26 PM
I see alot of things being effected by the NHL Lockout and the decidedly "stuckintheirways" Free Agents of the NHL Players. Why would it not effect every establishment, namely sports bars or pubs and the hotels, motels and B&Bs all around Hockey Arenas all around North America. The Greed is plain to see and even Sydney Crosby cannot remain uneffected. He may be a Nova Scotian but again so am I but I am very much poorer than he is. He is negotiating for his contract too within the NHL but he like all the Unionized Hockey Players will not bow to the owners of the NHL so we are at an impass, I certainly hope this "lockout" goes on for about 2-3 years and effects every fiber of Canada and the USA as we know it. THIS TIME IT IS NOT THE OWNERS of the NHL that are stonewalling, the Players this time can be blamed as "Sid The Kid" is now primetime negotiator.
Posted by: Bryan Jaskolka | Dec 6, 2021 3:35:52 PM
Please let's not forget that there's a lot of blame to go around and a lot of shoulders for it to fall in. Let's not kid ourselves. Every single person in that room is greedy. You're right, the players won't bow. They did last time. How would you like it if you finally let your boss cut your pay in half after he'd been at you for months? After conceeding, he comes back to you eight months later and says that he needs to take another half. How would you feel about it? I'm not saying that greed hasn't shown up on the side of players. But we can't talk about one side of the story without shining a little light on the other side as well.
As for what this article is ACTUALLY talking about, I DO feel badly for the businesses that have nothing to do with the labour dispute but are suffering because of it. I think fans should go on strike when and if hockey ever comes back - even for a week. Not go to games, not watch them on TV, not buy merchandise or support them in any way. Maybe that would remind ALL parties who really pays those big-time salaries. Instead, let's all go hang out at those local hangouts and put money back into the pockets of those that don't shut us out every 8 years.
Posted by: dan | Dec 20, 2021 2:14:29 AM
maybe its time for the loser teams to fold so we can have a stronger league dont really need a teem in tampa or california or any of those southern states. betman is a menace to sport franchises he should be gone too.the nhl never should have expanded as much as it has.