Football fans don’t flock to sports bars
Turnout for first Ohio State game disappoints the owners
Sports bars throughout central Ohio watched with bated breath as Ohio State’s football season was postponed, canceled and then uncanceled this fall.
Many local pubs and taverns depend on football season, and the thought of not hosting customers for Buckeyes games was a daunting prospect.
But with Ohio State football back, Columbus area sports bar owners said last Saturday’s game didn’t generate as much revenue as past years. Bars near campus were full, but those farther from Ohio Stadium weren’t as fortunate.
Occupancy restrictions, along with a reluctance among some to patronize bars and restaurants during the pandemic, continue to weigh on the venues, which were already hard hit by the downturn brought on by the pandemic.
As of Friday, COVID-19 had killed more than 5,200 Ohioans.
Dan Korthals, who owns Liberty Station Sports Bar in Powell, was blunt about his Saturday crowd.
“It was a disappointment,” he said.
“It was better than a typical Saturday, but nothing like games last year. Other places around me had bad turnouts too.”
Some Columbus-area bars make more than half their annual revenue from game days. The season is heavily promoted at taverns and pubs through posters and banners announcing game day specials, and many central Ohio sports bars are decked out with Buckeyes gear.
“It’s huge for us,” said Rachel Frye, general manager of City Tavern, which fills a sizable space in the Wonder Bread building near Downtown. “It’s a huge part of our fall.”
Numerous bar owners said they would have more customers without restrictions. Rules intended to curb the spread of the virus require bars to space tables at least 6 feet apart and prohibit standing-room-only crowds.
Large, tightly packed crowds are a recipe for infection, according to public health experts.
“We’re at about 60% capacity and we were full at the 60% capacity,” said Frank Profeta, who owns Nasty’s Sports Bar and Grill in Hilliard.
“We removed about 20 or 25 seats from the restaurant,” Frye said. The remaining seats were filled for most of Saturday’s game, she said, although
customers started to leave when it became clear the game against Nebraska would be a blowout.
Many bars turned customers away on Saturday or asked them to wait until a table opened up. Images of lines at campus-area bars flooded social media during Ohio State's game, and one popular campus-area spot, the Midway Bar, was cited for violating coronavirus social distancing restrictions late Saturday.
Robert Moore, who owns Scoreboard Pub and Grill in Delaware, tried to be proactive, posting a message on his bar's social media page letting customers know that they would be turned away if the bar was full.
“In old times, people would stand around behind you at the bar,” he said. “Obviously, you can't do that now. It sucks, but it's the new normal.”
Bar owners aren't sure what to expect for Saturday night's Ohio State-penn State game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Coronavirus restrictions include a 10 p.m. cut-off for alcohol sales, and the game may not be over before 11 p.m., when customers must finish their drinks.
State officials and public health experts defend the cutoff on the grounds that the most dangerous behavior tends to take place late at night, when customers are most intoxicated and less likely to heed social distancing guidelines.
For bar owners, the cutoff robs them of their most lucrative hours.
“For the Penn State game, we will be busy but we will most likely lose most of the crowd by halftime,” said Anna Leffew, who owns Skybox Sports Bar in Lewis Center.
Ohio State has a history of tense games against Penn State that aren't decided until the final moments, and Profeta worries that customers won't come at all if they can't stick around for the end.
“(Customers) are going to go where they can watch the full game,” he said.
Frye said her bartenders can sell pitchers or ice buckets filled with beer bottles just before 10 p.m., ensuring that tables of customers will have enough drinks to last until 11 p.m.
Bars can remain open after 11 p.m. as long as they don't serve alcohol, but Profeta said there was some confusion over the rules, and he worries the uncertainty will keep customers away.
Dan Robey, who owns three bars in central Ohio, including Robey's Pub in Reynoldsburg, is most frustrated about not being able to serve customers after a night game. Patrons tend to stick around and spend money after the game is over, he said.
“It's definitely going to affect our bottom line,” Robey said. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley