City, bars flying on Jet fuel

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This article was published 25/04/2018 (2877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not only is the Winnipeg Jets current playoff success raising the city’s profile, it’s also driving sales at bars and restaurants around town.

Gone are the days when Jets fans would take in the game and then rush home to the suburbs.

On game nights with 15,000 people inside Bell MTS Place and another 20,000 outside at the street party, bars and restaurants downtown and across the city are ringing up record-breaking receipts before, during and after the game.

Images of hordes of screaming — and, so far, well-behaved — fans outside the arena are being shown on television screens across the country and in the United States on NBC. Media coverage of the team’s success is giving the city the kind of boost that can be leveraged for years to come.

 

“From a tourism perspective if I took my entire budget, the whole thing, and tried to get the kind of coverage we are getting now, I could not afford to buy it,” said Dayna Spiring, the CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg.

For the first two weeks of the playoffs, not including Friday night’s game, the city has had $436,000 of earned media in print, and that does not count the NBC shots of the street party, according to a service EDW subscribes to.

“Those are big numbers,” Spiring said.

The fantastic play of the team and the delirium it’s causing on the streets looks good on the city — and regardless of the extent of the team’s success in the future, there is a sense there will be a substantial positive jolt of momentum.

Tony Siwicki, whose family has owned the Silver Heights Restaurant for 61 years, is beside himself with how busy his restaurant-bar is these days and how much fun everyone is having.

“We’re busier than we have ever been,” Siwicki said. “It’s a great ride we’re on.”

Before last Friday night’s 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild to close out the first round of the playoffs, there was a lineup on Portage Avenue to get into the St. James neighbourhood spot.

“For people who can’t go downtown or don’t have tickets, it’s almost like they are at the game,” Siwicki said. “With the TV’s and the AV system and someone on the microphone yelling about what’s going on… It’s a party.”

For some time now, Siwicki has been building on the positive momentum Winnipeg is experiencing and through the course of the regular season would typically experience a 30 per cent bump in sales on away game nights and 60 per cent for home games (with pre and post-game patronage from folks with tickets to the game). During the playoffs it’s been even higher than that.

Tim Feduniw, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said it’s too early to know the exact financial impact the Jets’ party is having on the sector, but it’s clearly good for business.

“The springtime is a good season,” he said.

“People are more comfortable going out, they feel good, they go out and eat more. Eating and drinking is a precursor to a lot of activities and we have one heck of an activity happening here.”

Last Friday night at Boston Pizza’s Cityplace location, the restaurant had the best day ever for one of the chain’s locations in Manitoba. Andrew Shefchyk, director of marketing for the Manitoba Boston Pizza group, said business was up 89 per cent for the week at the Cityplace location.

“We’ve been staffing up and getting ready for this,” Shefchyk said. “It is almost easier to run a busy restaurant because you know you are expecting the volume. Everyone is prepared. The staff has a great time. It’s a fun time to be in our business in Winnipeg and Manitoba.”

Staff are decked out in white, offering Jets-themed beverages — and the “Pass to the Glass” program has been a huge draw. The restaurants have given out 180 ice-level tickets behind the net to games this year, tickets that are close to priceless at his time of the year. Fans hoping to score those tickets are packing the house at 11 Boston Pizza restaurants in Winnipeg and locations in Steinbach, Selkirk, Portage la Prairie, Morden and Thompson

“For the long time, fans have supported the team,” Shefchyk said.

“And now with this deep run in the playoffs, there is a lot of built-up energy. Everyone wants to celebrate; it’s a very exciting time.”

It’s not just the restaurants and bars that are being swept up in Jets fever. Erick Casselman, owner and operator of the Park Theatre, was clever enough to see this wave coming.

The intimate music hall, more likely the venue for indie rock bands, has been showing the games to packed houses of more than 200 people on a newly purchased 24-foot Hitachi HD laser projector.

“I thought the Jets would make the playoffs this year and five months ago I started leaving holes in my calendar on purpose, anticipating playoff games,” he said.

The room has the feel of a community hall, with kids running around and the adults hooting and hollering at the hockey action.

“There’s a real cool sense of community,” he said. “I equate it to a really good punk show. People are very well-behaved, very in tune to what is going on (on the screen) and having more than a few drinks. It’s a huge boon for business.”

Plus, it’s way easier to set up and tear down than for a touring band.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca