The Return of Hockey Means Better Business For Halifax Sports Bars
HALIFAX – Covid-19 has cancelled a lot of events this past year that have left people frustrated and disappointed. The world of professional sports has been no exception. The biggest leagues in North America have had to cancel games and rejig their schedules. For the sports bars in Halifax that rely on games being broadcast on television to bring in customers, these have been uncertain times, indeed.
But the month of January brought a late Christmas gift to these businesses when the NHL started its shortened season to the delight of hockey fans everywhere. The season would normally start in October, but due to the many complications caused by the pandemic, the league kicked things off three months later.
Mike Hawkins is the manager of Pint Public House in Halifax. He has noticed more customers coming in whenever hockey is being shown inside his bar. He estimates that a game featuring the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs brings in an extra 30-40 customers.
“We’ve seen an influx of people coming in for some of the NHL games,” said Hawkins, who has the tough luck of being an Ottawa Senators fan.
“Every Toronto and Montreal game, we’re seeing a huge influx of people coming in just for the games. Not so much if Ottawa plays.”
Jamie Latter has been the owner of Big leagues in Cole Harbour since 1997 after his brother opened the sports bar a decade earlier. On the first day of the season, which featured both a Pittsburgh Penguins game and a matchup between Montreal and Toronto, he had 75 customers. That’s pretty good considering Big leagues can only hold up to 90 with current health restrictions.
The hockey business can be quite lucrative in Cole Harbour. Not only does the area have traditional Montreal and Toronto die-hards, but there are many Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins fans.
That’s because two of the greatest players in the league right now, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, grew up in the area and played minor hockey in Cole Harbour. Big Leagues even has a “Sidney Crosby Corner” which features five jerseys of Sid The Kid. Crosby himself even once brought 40 friends into Big leagues for brunch one December day.
“They both grew up a kilometre or two from Big Leagues,” said Latter about the superstars.
While talking sports with Hawkins and Latter, it is clear that hockey is the most important sport for their businesses. Basketball, baseball, and football can bring in fans, but it’s less reliable than the good ole hockey game.
Right now, the NFL is in playoff mode and the upcoming Superbowl is sure to bring in fans in February. But Latter said the other playoff games failed to bring in customers, even with food and drink specials advertised for game day.
Both men agree that the Raptors are a huge draw for customers…as long as the team is hot. When the basketball team went of their championship run in 2019, Hawkins said it was a sight to behold within the Halifax bar scene.
“Absolutely electric. There was more hype around their championship run than I’ve seen for any event over the past five years,” he said.
“If they make the playoffs, then, no matter what time the game is on-it could be 2 o’clock in the afternoon- we will get people in for it no problem.”
Unfortunately for Raptors fans and for sports bars, the Raptors are certainly not hot at the moment, with a 7-9 start to the new season. So, until things turn around for the country’s only NBA team, hockey will play a big role in the finances of sports bars across the country.
Luckily for people like Hawkins and Latter, Covid-19 has forced the NHL to do something it’s never done before: have a division consist of entirely Canadian teams. That means, for the entire regular season, fans will get to see some hot rival action, including no shortage of games between Montreal and Toronto. This dynamic will be sure to stir interest among hockey fans.
“That helps tremendously, the fact that they’re going to get to play 10 times this year in the Canadian Division,” said Hawkins.
For Jamie Latter and Big Leagues, the more hockey that’s on TV in 2021, the better. Latter estimates that 2020 sales were 35 percent less compared to 2019. But even when things go back to normal in a post-pandemic world, he predicts that less and less people will go to bars to watch sports.
Unlike in the 80s and 90s, people have a ton of technology at home and on mobile devices to watch sports. People in the 21st century just don’t go out to socialize over a beer as they used to- even on game day.
“I’ve been doing this a long time and I find, unless it’s a really big game or it’s Montreal versus Toronto, it’s harder to get people out,” observes Latter. “Everyone has a 60 or 70 inch TV at home.”