Valley bars suffer from ho-hum NFL playoffs

NFL fans at Starters Riverport in Bethlehem Saturday.

Sure the economy is limping along and part of that pesky fiscal cliff still looms, but Lehigh Valley pub owners have a more immediate financial worry: the Eagles, Steelers and Giants all missed the playoffs.

Snicker if you like, but those three teams haven't missed the playoffs together this century and Valley watering holes that rely on their rabid fans to keep the taps flowing are feeling the pain.

How bad is it? Dave Rank, owner of three sports bars, admitted that as it became clear late in the season that all three "home" teams could miss the postseason, he hit rock bottom.

"I'm a diehard Eagles fan, but for the first time in my life I was actually rooting for the Cowboys to make it. Maybe their fans could have saved us a little," said Rank, whose stable of pubs includes Starters Riverport, the Valley's largest restaurant. "This is killing us. We haven't faced this before."

Maybe Rank and his colleagues didn't realize it, but they've been spoiled when it comes to packing their restaurants in January. Just 60 miles from Philadelphia and 70 miles from New York, they sit about midway between two of the NFL's largest football markets. And though Pittsburgh is 280 miles away, the Valley is full of fans who drape themselves in black and gold on Sundays.

Not only are Valley bar owners fortunate to have three NFL home teams, but those teams have been so successful that they usually help pubs sell tons of wings and gallons of beer clean through January. The last time at least one of them didn't make the playoffs was after the 1999 season. And they've won four of the last seven Super Bowls ? two each for the Steelers and Giants. Sorry, Eagles fans, maybe next year.

There have been few studies that give a clear picture of the NFL's economic impact on communities . One commissioned by the NFL Players Association in 2011 estimated that each team created $160 million in economic activity for their region. Closer to the point, Philadelphia Sports Congress Executive Director Larry Needle last week said each Eagles playoffs game means $10 million in economic trickle-down for the region.

For Rank, a typical playoff weekend meant fans would arrive early for the Eagles game, drink and eat plenty, and keep the excitement going deep into the late game. And if he was lucky enough to get an Eagles-Steelers doubleheader, it was cash register gold.

But the luck has run out. This year the taps are at a trickle, the usually overworked waitresses at a stroll. In past years Rank said he could expect almost every seat of his 500-seat Riverport in Bethlehem to be filled for playoff weekends.

And this year?

"Probably down 35 percent," Rank said. "I'm hoping they come out this week to see Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. We're reduced to rooting for individuals."

That'll likely amount to roughly $5,000 fewer sales per day at Riverport alone, he said.

The drop is steeper than that at Mezza Luna Sports Bar & Grill in Allentown, owner David Gubitosi said. Last week, for the wild card clash of the titans that was Cincinnati at Houston, at times his 27 screens were barely outnumbered by the patrons.

"Devastating. Take away the Eagles, Steelers and Giants and we're probably down 50 percent," said Gubitosi, who opened the 265-seat sports bar on Airport Road eight years ago. "This is going to be our worst playoffs since we've been around."

Same deal at Big Woody's Pizza and Sports Bar, where even take-out and delivery orders on weekends are down because fewer people are having house parties, said Matt Marcks, whose family runs five Big Woody's in Allentown, Bethlehem and Forks Township. The chain's best defense is the wing-eating contest it started six years ago during the playoffs, which often draws more than 100 spectators each day.

"The wings are our one saving grace," Marcks said. "Of course, more people are watching the wing eating than the games. It's a real downer when your teams aren't in."

It hurts this bad largely because the local bars are used to having it so good. The Valley benefits from three of the nation's top 10 most popular NFL teams, according to a monthly ESPN telephone poll of 1,500 NFL fans. The Giants and Steelers tie for the third biggest nationwide fan bases, and the Eagles are ninth.

For that reason, it's not just the pubs that are hurting. Every playoffs, the likes of Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority and Modell's could count on stocking up on hats, jerseys and sweats of whatever "home" team was in the playoffs, stacking the merchandise on tables at the store entrance. No discounts needed.

"When one of them is in, people are happy, they're excited and they're crazy for merchandise ? doesn't even matter if there's a recession," said Lori Miller, assistant manager of the Modell's sporting goods at the Lehigh Valley Mall. "It's so much fun. This year it's boring. No fun."

And no sales. Managers at Dick's, Sports Authority and Modell's all said that for the first time in years, they didn't order additional merchandise for this playoffs season.

But it's not all bad, said Aaron Wilson, store manager of the Dick's Sporting Goods in Whitehall Township.

"We're a national company," Wilson said. "I'm sure our stores in Denver and Boston are selling lots of stuff."

matthew.assad@mcall.com

610-820-6691

Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nfl-playoffs-fans-20130112,0,1364803.story?track=rss

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