Charter-BTN deal less exciting for sports bar owners
Amidst all the joy for sports fans with the announcement of a Charter-Big Ten Network deal, one group of people wasn't exactly doing cartwheels on Wednesday: bar owners.
"I was sorry for the people who didn't have it, but sometimes it's good when you get thrown your bone, too," said Scott Peterson, a manager at Babe's Grill and Bar on the west side.
Bars across the area scored big last season because of the impasse between Charter Communications and the Big Ten Network. Many fans went out to see the games, and the bars and restaurants that carried the Big Ten Network benefited. Peterson said it was a welcome boost after Babe's, like many other bars, saw a dip in business after Madison's smoking ban went into effect.
"I can only assume it will go down slightly," Peterson said of game-day business.
On the east side, Pooley's co-owner Greg Poole said he expects to see a difference.
"Football season is big here, it will have an impact," he said. "It's hard to tell how much. But when something like this happens, it just means more people will stay home and watch, they won't come here."
The Big Ten Network will be offered on Charter's expanded basic service, so not all of the cable company's customers will automatically have it. Even so, that doesn't mean cable customers will now sit home alone watching it and avoid bars and restaurants altogether.
"There's something about being around a bunch of Badger fans who aren't going to the game," said Pete Beeber, general manager of the Coliseum Bar near the Dane County Coliseum. "People want to go out and support the hometown team."
Beeber said his bar felt the immediate impact last year when there were no Badger football games to show on Saturdays. So the staff got a satellite dish and saw a difference right away.
"We went from three people during the game to a full house within a week of putting in the dish," Beeber said.
Jim Luedtke, who owns the Stadium Bar near Camp Randall Stadium, said he saw a boost by being able to show games fans couldn't watch at home. His establishment could really take advantage of it during football season, when in addition to the seating for 255 inside, another 2,416 people could sit outside to watch on a 15-foot LED screen television.
"It was a very big boost for our business, I can say that," Luedtke said. "But we'll always have a big group on game day, so it won't make or break us."
As the owner of a sports bar, Luedtke is a good sport about it.
"I'm happy for all the people out there," he said. "They have an outlet now for watching the Big Ten Network instead of a bar."
Pooley's owner Poole said that while he'd likely see a difference without being a Big Ten Network outlet, the NFL is still a big part of his business. The Charter deal does not include the NFL Network, but the Packers don't have a game on that channel this year like they did last season.
"When the Packers were on the NFL Network, it was one of our best crowds," Poole said. "They just flocked here. And we've got the NFL Sunday Ticket (on satellite dish), so we get all the fantasy football fans."
And it might not be a fantasy fulfilled, but sports fans at least have more of a choice of where to watch the games.
"I kind of saw it coming with Comcast, and then Time Warner, it was only a matter of time for Charter," Luedtke said of the other cable companies reaching a deal with the Big Ten Network. "We will definitely survive anyway."
File photo
Fans gather at Babe's Bar & Grill to watch football in this file photo. With Charter now offering the Big Ten Network on its expanded basic service, fewer people may go to bars to watch the Wisconsin games.
