BC Lions’ return to Vancouver good news for businesses, city

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s been 656 days since their last home game, and now, the BC Lions are returning to live action in Vancouver.

The Lions are set to kickoff against the Edmonton Elks at BC Place at 7 p.m. PT. It will mark the first professional sports game to be played in Vancouver in more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic put leagues on hold. All professional sports leagues have made changes, such as only playing in the U.S. or creating country-specific divisions, in order to resume play over the last several months.

The return of live sports to Vancouver will no doubt be a boost to revenue for many businesses across the region, particularly in the downtown core.

“It’s really exciting for downtown businesses. Having sports in downtown and at BC Place is an important part of the ecosystem for downtown,” explained Nolan Marshall III, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.

“In 2019, BC Place had an economic impact of $148 million.”

He says that impact extended to various industries, such as the hotel sector, with visitors in turn spending money at restaurants, local shops, on local transit, and beyond.

The Canucks’ faceoff against the New York Islanders in March 2020 was the last time people got to take in professional sports live in Vancouver.

The Alliance of Beverage Licensees agrees the return to live sports in the city is good news for the local economy and people.

“It’s been a long, long pandemic and most of the folks in the hospitality industry — pubs, bars, restaurants — have been losing money or breaking even for the past 18 months,” said Executive Director Jeff Guignard. “Getting folks back downtown and having some more customers is going to be really good for their business.”

Return of live sports a sign of hope

Guignard says any live sports event brings in more money for local businesses. But in addition to being a boost for locals financially, he says it’s also a sign of more hopeful times ahead.

“It’s a nice balance to what’s happening in other parts of the province, right? Where you look at cases going in the wrong direction and you see more restrictions coming into place. But here, on the Lower Mainland, we’re still going in the right way and our industry’s got the right protocols in place to keep people safe. It’s nice to feel something normal again,” he explained.

With a recent increase in COVID-19 cases across B.C., concerns remain about the pandemic and whether it will impact our return to life as we somewhat knew it. However, there is still some hope.

Marshall says the return of live sports is a sign of the slow return to normalcy.

“Seeing people in their jerseys, seeing people out and about. We’ve noticed an uptick. Every weekend, we have pedestrian counters that can quantify a return of people to downtown. But seeing that return to normalcy that we expect to see this fall is really going to be a boom to the morale and the spirit of everyone downtown,” he told NEWS 1130.

“We also know that the World Junior Hockey Championship, the Vancouver Marathon, the Draft that was held in Vancouver in 2019 had a combined economic impact of $75 million. And so sports, while it’s community building, while we all rally around our teams and the experience, it really is big business for the restaurants, the hospitality industry. Everyone in downtown is really depending upon this part of the ecosystem coming back.”


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BC Place is only welcoming back people to about half-capacity, but that still means more than 12,000 people will be able to attend Thursday’s game.

The CFL’s return to Vancouver is just the beginning of the restart of live sports in the city. The Vancouver Whitecaps return to BC Place as well this week, with their first home game set for Saturday.

Marshall says most restaurants are open and ready to welcome people, adding businesses are gearing up for the weekend and what live sports will bring. He assures businesses are still expected to follow COVID-19 protocols.

Guignard is also asking people to be patient if they notice service takes a little longer than they may remember, adding there’s a province-wide shortage in staff in the hospitality sector.

“We’re short probably 40,000 workers of the 190,000 that we would normally have out there,” Guignard explained. “We’re probably not going to be able to open necessarily at full capacity. You’ll see some tables free and you’ll wonder why. It’s simply because we don’t have the staff to accommodate it.”

Related video: Should sports teams only allow vaccinated fans into games?

B.C. reported 553 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with the highest number of infections in the Interior Health region at 230. Fraser Health accounts for 152 new cases, while Vancouver Coastal has 97 new infections.

As of Wednesday, more than 82 per cent of the eligible population 12 years and older in this province had received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while close to 74 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

For people who are still looking to get the jab, Vancouver Coastal Health says it will be outside BC Place Thursday, at Terry Fox Plaza from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., for a pop-up vaccine clinic.

Both first and second doses will be available, and people are being reminded they can now get their second shot as early as 28 days after their first in B.C.

Conversations around requiring vaccines for certain events, such as concerts or live sports, have been ongoing. B.C.’s top doctor said last week venues will have her full support if they choose to deny access to people who are not fully vaccinated.

So far, no such requirements have been announced by any venues in B.C.

-With files from Tamara Slobogean, Tim James, and Claire Fenton

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