The Knicks may be one away from winning the NBA finals, but there’s one group of people who are already winning: Staten Island restaurant and bar owners.
Since the basketball team has made the finals, many establishments have taken advantage of the excitement, hosting watch parties and having Knicks-themed specials to drive sales. Many Staten Islanders are flocking to restaurants and bars to watch.
“Everyone’s into it, watching every play, getting into it. Energy’s loud and exciting,” says Joyce’s Tavern owner Joe O’Toole, “Because all the games are interesting. They’re either up and down by two points or four points, or they’re losing by like 30 points, and then they come back.”
Other restaurants are experiencing similar excitement.
“[The turnout is] phenomenal,” says Miller’s Ale House manager Amr Sallam, “Very enthusiastic. Very emotional. They’re on the cusp of winning the championship.”
“ We’ve gotten so much more traffic since the finals,” says Outback assistant manager Zakaria Douhour.
These restaurants are reporting an incredible boost in revenue since the Knicks made it to the finals.
“In here, when the game is playing, we get triple revenue in here. Triple,” says Sallam, “whatever the day is. Not double. Triple.”
“At least double of a regular night,” says O’Toole, “on weekends it’s even busier, because it’s the weekend, but on Monday nights and Wednesday nights, it’s been double over a regular night.”
The NBA finals have been an economic boon for the city as a whole. The NYC Economic Development Corporation estimates that the full postseason will generate $456 million in economic activity, including both direct (tickets, merch, etc.) and indirect (restaurant watch parties) spending. This exceeds last year’s playoff run, which generated $195 million, but was estimated to generate $91 million more if they’d made it to the finals.
However, there are concerns that this surge in revenue won’t last. Once the NBA hype dies down, restaurant owners worry they’ll see a drop in customers.
“The summer’s like a dry-out time for sports,” explains O’Toole, “it’s not football season, it’s not an exciting baseball season. There’s no basketball left. A lot of people are out during the day, and by the time night rolls around, they’re back in the house.”
While the FIFA World Cup is the next major sporting event, it isn’t expected to have the same pull as the NBA Finals.
“We have it,” says Sallam, “We have it all over the TVs…It’s more the local sports. Maybe tonight, when the USA is playing, it’ll be different. But so far for the two games yesterday and today, we didn’t really have anything.”
“I’ve only ever seen one customer come in ever to watch soccer,” says Dohour, “maybe we’ll get heavier traffic when the US plays.”
Despite these fears, Staten Island restaurants and bars have at least one more game to go to see a major revenue surge.
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