Ravens Insider: Amid slow Ravens season, how can Baltimore bars hang on to business?

[ExtremeRavens]

This football season has left many Baltimoreans confused and disillusioned. These feelings, say some of the city’s sports bar owners, have made their way into the taproom.

So far, Baltimore’s football team has secured only one win out of six games played, with performances that have caused local fans and athletes alike to ask, “What’s wrong with the Ravens?” Between lopsided losses, coaching criticism and a devastating injury to star quarterback Lamar Jackson, sports bars in the area are tasked with filling seats and encouraging guests to keep watching, eating and drinking against the odds.

“It’s tough to get excited when you know your star quarterback’s not playing when you’re getting beat,” said Andrew Wheeler, owner of Locals Only, who said the team’s unfortunate season has affected business. The losses, he said, are far from negligible — when he was a partner at the former Federal Hill Mad River Bar & Grille, he estimated that a Ravens home loss “could swing sales $5,000 to $10,000.”

After losing games, Wheeler said he has noticed a general decrease in business around Locals Only’s Federal Hill neighborhood, adding that several of his peers in the area are also seeing attendance “numbers [go] down significantly.”

In Riverside, John Leonard, owner of Don’t Know Tavern, also reported seeing “a slight decrease in fan presence,” both at the bar and in the surrounding neighborhood.

“It hasn’t impacted sales too much yet,” Leonard wrote in a statement to The Baltimore Sun. “But I feel we could be a loss away from a big impact on business (which for me is the busiest time of year), the remainder of the season.”

Lower attendance is only one part of the issue, according to Wheeler. Losing games, he said, also deters bargoers from staying out as late — a phenomenon that results in a dip in sales.

“You’re much more inclined and likely to enjoy your Sunday fun day if your team wins. People are out, and everyone’s just happy,” he said. “When you lose, the first thing that’s going through your mind is it’s going to make work tomorrow miserable.”

In other Baltimore neighborhoods, such as Fells Point, bar owners like Gail Furman of Max’s Taphouse have better news to share.

“We’ve been through good seasons and bad seasons with the Ravens,” said Furman. “Thankfully, Ravens fans still support their Ravens. Even in bad times, they come out and enjoy it.”

One way to keep fans coming through the door, said Furman and others, has been on-theme specials. Max’s has continued offering “Big Ass” 32-ounce drafts for the price of a regular draft during games. Similarly, during last week’s game showing at Fells Point’s Sláinte Irish Pub and Restaurant, “We did have folks watching (even though it was an awful game) and enjoying our food and beverage game day specials,” wrote owner Patrick Russell in a statement to The Sun.

For bars that have managed to sustain business despite the Ravens’ poor performance, hope seems to play a role. Both Russell and his customers are still holding out for a comeback — “The Ravens,” he said, “have every opportunity to win the division and end strong leading into the playoffs.”

“I think Baltimore fans are very supportive of all of their birds,” said Furman. “It’s been a very disappointing season so far with the Ravens, and definitely a major disappointment with the Orioles, but they’re true.”

With the Ravens’ chances of advancing to the playoffs dwindling with every loss, the stakes of the team’s decline, said Wheeler, are higher than sports fandom.

“Anyone, especially in the city, who says it’s not affecting small businesses is an absolute, complete liar,” he said. “We very heavily rely on the sports teams to be competitive. When they’re not, it’s not good for business at all.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jane Godiner at jgodiner@baltsun.com or on Instagram as @Jane.Craves.

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