NFL Lockout has Baltimore County Businesses on Edge

The Riverwatch Restaurant & Marina on Nanticoke Road doesn’t pride itself on being a sports bar, but the owners still know what the Baltimore Ravens mean to their bottom line.

A typical Ravens game, or most any NFL matchup for that matter, usually equates to an uptick in customers. That is why the Riverwatch and many other local businesses are keeping their fingers crossed that the NFL players and owners can reach some type of agreement to ensure professional football starts on time.

Traci Sullivan, who owns the Riverwatch with her brother Mark, said a prolonged NFL lockout would ultimately hurt their business in the fall—when the boating season is starting to wind down. Riverwatch runs football specials every Sunday, whether the Ravens are playing or not, and Sullivan said that promotion has increased sales on that day by about 50 percent.

“It has helped our business during the winter because we’re very seasonal,” Sullivan said. “Instead of it just being a good Friday or Saturday, our entire weekend is now good.”

If there is no NFL season, local business owners are not the only ones with much to lose. The state will also see a massive loss of dollars.

The most recent study by the Maryland Stadium Authority in 2007 found Ravens games had the following economic impact:

• Generated in excess of $216 million in gross state product in 2006
• Supported a total of 3,088 jobs in 2006 and roughly $100 million in Maryland personal income
• Generated nearly $10 million in state taxes, including $3.5 million in admission tax
• Generated more that $3 million in local taxes, including $870,233 in admission tax.

“The Ravens have opened up a myriad of avenues to help generate economic activity in Maryland,” said Anirban Basu, chairman/CEO of the Sage Policy Group and author of the study, upon its release.

“Not only is each Ravens’ home game a blockbuster event, but M&T Bank Stadium is now being increasingly utilized to host concerts, major collegiate football games, NCAA lacrosse tournaments and other events, each of which generates significant economic impact and marketing for Baltimore and Maryland.”

Some local business owners are cautiously optimistic about the season. 

Bernadette  Ruzicka, who runs the on Eastern Avenue with her husband Melvin, said the store also sells Orioles memorabilia and flags. She, however, relies on a power much higher than the Ravens to weather any economic storms.

“We have other things going on here and we’ll still get fans,” Ruzicka said. “I don’t think they’ll be locked out. But we don’t rely on the Ravens. We rely on God above to bring us through. It’s going to affect all of us, restaurants and small vendors, if they’re locked out. But you bring it to the Lord and He’ll bring you through.”

Tim Stephens, who owns , doesn’t think the lockout would have much of an impact on his restaurant. He said the area has a huge Ravens following and there would be a void without football. However, many area residents go to local bars to watch the game or head to M&T Bank Stadium, so that has insulated his business if a lockout occurs.

“We’re actually a bit slower during the game because we don’t deliver,” Stephens said. “So, in some ways, if the Ravens don’t play it’s beneficial for us. During the bye weeks, we are a little busier.”

Nonetheless, Stephens said there is a spike in business after the game, especially if the Ravens win.

At the center of the labor strife is $1 billion of guaranteed annual revenue for the owners. The remaining $8 billion was split, with the players getting around 60 percent and the owners 40 percent.

The owners wants another $1 billion of guaranteed money to offset increasing costs, but the players wanted to keep the current deal. The players also claim the owners don’t provide  financial statements to verify the increase in operating costs. There was also talk of extending the regular season from 16 to 18 games, but the players said that proposal was dead on arrival.

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said during his annual meeting with local media members that even though it appears many NFL owners are making substantial profits, that is simply not the case. In reality, several teams are barely operating in the black.

“I think we've got an acute problem here with the general profitability of the teams,” Bisciotti said. “We always knew this was not a big cash-flow business, but when you've got guys like Jacksonville tarping up 10,000 seats to stop blackouts, when you've got teams that are voluntarily staying at the minimum of what they have to spend on the salary cap in order to not go upside-down financially, then we already have a structural problem.”

Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and a plaintiff in an anti-trust case against NFL, sees the situation much diffferently. He said the players are fighting for every player who was part of the NFL.

“I represent not only the 1,900 players that are in the league now but the guys that played before us that we’re basically standing on their shoulders now,” said Brees in a statement. “They’re the ones who created what we have now in this league. And also we represent the guys that are going to come after us. And so it’s ... I feel very strongly about our case. I feel very strongly about the facts and about the law.”

Those logistics are moot to the local area, which simply relies on the fans' dollars.

During September and October, Riverwatch has an outdoor bar with football games, so customers can watch the matchups right on the water. Boaters can also dock and catch up with the day’s scores and highlights, especially for 1 p.m. games.

“It definitely would hit us,” Sullivan said about the potential lockout.

Baltimore radio host Ed Norris agrees. The 105.7 The Fan host explained his concerns during

If the NFL lockout of players continues through the fall and affects scheduled football games, it could cause "tremendous economic downturn" in NFL franchise towns such as Baltimore, Norris said.