The cancellation of NBA games and preventative measures encouraging limiting exposure to large groups of people is having a strong negative impact on businesses around the country, and Boston is no exception.
After the league suspended all games for the Boston Celtics and other 29 teams, local businesses immediately began to feel the impact. No games, no downtown crowds, no business, no money, no paychecks for many in the service industry.
While it was undoubtedly the right move to make from a public health perspective, the economic aspect of these precautionary measures is very real, and significant.
At local staples like Sullivan’s Tap, proprietors are turning back deliveries with no clients to sell them to, reports the Boston Herald’s Stefan Geller.
“The difference in attendance on a game night is massive; we go from having maybe 20 people here all night to having 300 or 400,” explained Sullivan’s Tap manager Stephanie Scione (via Geller). “What do you do now? How do you get people through the door?”
While it may be good health advice to avoid such large crowds, many working-class families depend on their wages from such surges in business, and will be hard-pressed to make ends meet in their absence.
It’s putting business owners and their employees n a very difficult situation.
West End businesses brace for downturn after NBA and NHL suspend seasons over coronavirus https://t.co/wMfPCuiCNZ#boston
— Ratty (@HeyRatty) March 13, 2020
Tony Costa, a manager for nearby The Fours Restaurant & Sports Bar relates that his clientele on non-game nights is just 10 % of a game night, and it may soon force some tough decisions.
“We go from 40 employees down to five or six when there’s no game … You never want to talk about layoffs, but whatever happens happens.”
The owner of Boston Beer Works Joe Slesar suggests the reaction is not unlike what was seen after the September 11th or Boston Marathon bomber terrorist attacks, and could result in the loss of hundreds of local jobs.
“There are hundreds of families that depend on our business and there are thousands that depend on hospitality in general … We’ve got to tighten our belts and stick through this, but we’re trying to figure out what we can do with our staff.”
“It’s not just us, it’s the food vendors, the cleaning companies, the delivery people,” added Costa. “Everyone in the area is going to feel the effects.”