OB’s Pub and Grill in Manhattan Beach Among Several Sports Bars in NBA Cities That Stand to Lose Thousands
Steve Delk runs a small bar in the Los Angeles area that’s a popular locals hangout for Taco Tuesdays and also LA Laker games.
And while the Taco Tuesdays will continue to bring in crowds, the Laker games will not, at least for the time being, and perhaps for the entire season. Delk, and his OB’s Pub and Grill in Manhattan Beach, is just one of many bar owners and businesses whose bottom line is being affected by the NBA lockout.
“When the Lakers lose in the playoffs, business goes down 10%,” Delk said. “If there’s no season at all, I would say I would lose 15% of my business. And that means a lot because I’m a fairly small bar (OB’s has a capacity of about 50).
“A lot of people come in here on a regular basis – which really helps the on the slow nights – to have beers and order food during the season and things really pick up during the playoffs.”
If the lockout continues into January and beyond – perhaps even canceling the entire NBA season – then Delk and hundreds of bar owners like him in NBA cities will face losses in the tens of thousands of dollars. He’s an example that it is just not the bars and businesses around the arenas that will suffer, but bars throughout all NBA cities that get in fans to watch both home and away games of the local team.
Once Delk starting thinking about how much he would potentially lose while the owners and players can’t agree over a sliver of percentage of revenue, he becomes agitated at the situation. If he had any hair on his head, it would be standing straight up at this point.
“It’s BS,” he said. “They are affecting my bottom line!”
He then paused for a second to get reflective. “It hurts,” he said.
Then he gets feisty again when asked what he would say to an owner or player – and Mark Cuban has been into OB’s for Taco Tuesday – given the chance.
He offered a simple, one-word answer: “SETTLE!”
Leave a Reply