After a long, hockey-free winter, downtown bar owners and employees and sports retailers gleefully greeted Wednesday’s news that the Colorado Avalanche will be back on the ice this fall.
“It’s great news for us,” said Ian MacClure, general manager of Lodo’s Bar and Grill. “The Avalanche are such a staple of our business.”
The National Hockey League and its players association reached a tentative labor agreement Wednesday, ending the lockout that canceled last year’s season. The first home Avalanche game will probably be in October.
Lodo’s said it will increase its food and liquor orders by roughly 15 percent to accommodate the additional 50-plus patrons it draws on game nights.
The SportsFan, which has 14 retail stores in Colorado, said it plans to boost its stock of Avalanche jerseys, which sell for $85 to $230.
“The Avalanche are our second-best sellers behind the Broncos,” said SportsFan district manager Karl Huizenga. “Take those sales out and it sure hurt.”
Jessi Jorgensen said she’s looking forward to the tips. She is a bartender at Brooklyn’s, a sports bar outside the Pepsi Center. Last season, she lost as much as $750 a month due to the lockout. “It hurt, big time,” she said.
Brooklyn’s and the Sports Column, a Lower Downtown bar, each plan to add at least 20 more employees than they had last year, spokesmen said. But several entrepreneurs expressed concern that lingering resentment toward the players and the league would keep fans from watching – and spending.
“We have to wait and see what kind of reaction the fans have,” said Huizenga. “The hard-core fans will come back, no problem. But the fringe fans, they’ll only come back if (the Avs) win.”
Bond-rating service Fitch Ratings placed the Denver Arena Trust, the organization responsible for the Pepsi Center’s debt, on Rating Watch Negative last year after the season was canceled. The negative rating will be reviewed after the collective bargaining agreement is approved, Fitch spokesmen said.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
