The World Cup has been a boon for Halifax bars, helping to drive up sales as people gather to catch the games.
Many bar owners anticipate things will only get better as the next major sporting event approaches. The World Juniors will take over Halifax and Moncton in late December.
A family owner of the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse in Halifax says the World Cup has been a great event for business as many hold watch parties.
“It’s a bit different this year with them starting at 9 in the morning and the last game is at 3 in the afternoon,” he says. “But it has been a nice change in what is normally a relatively slow lunch month in November.”
A recent report by Moneris found bar spending in the Atlantic region during Canada’s second World Cup game went up 40 per cent, which is one of the highest increases in the country.
Doherty anticipates even more people will head to the bar when the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship kicks off Boxing Day. Six communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will also host pre-tournament games from Dec. 19 to the 23rd.
“I mean the World Juniors, every time they’ve been in town previously, it has been a wild couple of weeks,” he says. “So we’re very much looking forward to it.”
The manager of Niche Lounge says reservations have already started coming in for the hockey tournament.
“With the World Juniors, people come from different countries, and with Canada playing in Halifax, that’s going to bring a lot of fans out the days that they play and the days when other teams are playing,” Chris Denham says.
Both he and Doherty say it’s good to see the community opening back up after some rough pandemic years.
“I mean the downtown in general, not even the restaurants,” Doherty says. “To see the downtown coming back to life is a really nice thing especially as it’s getting colder we all tend to venture out less this time of year.”
Canada’s first match-up at the World Juniors is on Boxing Day against the Czech Republic.
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