The start of the Major League Baseball season has allowed sports bars in downtown Phoenix to see their largest increase in business since the start of the pandemic.
Jason Bell, the owner of Crown Public House, said he had more business on the Arizona Diamondbacks home opener on April 9, 2021, than he had throughout the previous two weeks put together.
Crown Public House is a sports bar located between Chase Field, Phoenix Suns Arena and the Phoenix Convention Center. This prime location had made them the spot for sporting events until the pandemic took away the spark that made downtown sports bars shine so brightly.
“We were hoping we could open up for baseball,” Bell said. “We had very few people even at 50% occupancy.”
Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to open bars and restaurants back to normal operations on March 25, 2021, couldn’t have come at a better time for Bell, considering opening day for the Arizona Diamondbacks was only a few weeks away from the first pitch.
Although Crown Public House is free of COVID-19 safety restrictions, Bell has continued to take precautions to help keep his customers safe from the pandemic.
“We use QR codes instead of menus. We wipe everything down and sanitize everything,” said Bell.
Bell also mentioned that before the restaurant went back to normal operations, there would be moments where people would complain about their COVID-19 safety rules. Despite the negativity, Bell said he and his staff were determined to keep a positive attitude during that period of time and look forward to the day they could finally give customers the freedom they wanted.
The new added freedom from Ducey, along with Major League Baseball making its return, seems to be the ingredients that have significantly increased profit margins, Bell said.
This allowed Bell to increase the restaurant’s hours along with opening up their dugout bar on the west patio on weekend evenings.
“Anything we can do to grow our business,” Bell said.
According to Yelp reviews, what makes Crown Public House stand out aside from their close proximity to Phoenix sporting events and their tasty menu items is their game time atmosphere as well as their love for Liverpool, a professional soccer team in the United Kingdom.
“This place is great if you are a football (soccer) fan, especially one who roots for Liverpool. They cover every Liverpool match no matter how early it starts,” said Michael S. on Yelp.
Since Liverpool and the Diamondbacks are both in season, it seems Crown Public House has got over the hump of the pandemic and is now taking their business to greener pastures.
Crown Public House isn’t the only sports bar in downtown Phoenix on the rise. Majerle’s Sports Grill located just a couple blocks from Crown Public House has also seen an increase in business since the start of Diamondback baseball.
Unlike Crown Public House, Majerle’s Sport’s Grill was almost unaffected by the pandemic in the past couple months and said they were relatively relaxed even during the tough times of the pandemic, Majerle’s manager Anisa Lindesay said.
“[It] wasn’t much of a concern — we have been a staple here since 1972. Even with 50% capacity, we have such a large space that we had very good business, so fully opening really never made too much of a difference. I think bringing the sporting events back downtown has helped us more than lifting restrictions,” said Lindesay.
“Yes, absolutely!” was Bell’s response when asked if he agreed with Ducey’s decision to open up businesses to normal operations. Maybe Bell’s enthusiasm along with Ducey lifting the restrictions is what has made downtown feel more like downtown again.
Contact the reporter at lvickery@asu.edu.
