written by: Ryan Ryles
PULSE / Sports
S
ports fans rejoice! The 2011 NFL season is in full swing! It was just a few short months ago, July, to be exact, when foot- ball fans were wondering if the NFL lockout would ever end. As it continued to drag on, everyone was consumed with
uncertainty for the upcoming season, from Fantasy Football fanat- ics and season ticket holders to the average football-loving Joe. If there was no football season, the economic losses would be
staggering. This was largely worrisome for cities that host NFL teams, but mostly ignored by fans in markets like Southwest Florida. Conservative estimates put job losses at more than ten thousand, plus millions of dollars in lost tax revenues for the host cities of teams, and billions lost for corporate sponsors and the league itself. Though most of Southwest Floridians live more than 100 miles from
the nearest NFL franchise, we sometimes forget just how important the NFL is to our local economy. Drive down any major street in the area and you’ll see dozens of sports bars – to which football is very important. “Sundays during football season are huge for Jack’s,” says
Rich Whittier, part-owner of Jack’s Bait Shack in North Naples. The bar is a popular destination on Sundays for NFL fans. “Septem- ber is a very slow time of year for us, and football – both college and NFL – help us to (financially) bridge that gap until season starts.” “It would be hard to speculate exactly how much business
we would lose,” says Kim Bokamper, owner of Bokamper’s Sports Bar & Grill. “But
it would be down, especially Sunday
business, no doubt about it – perhaps as much as 20 percent.” Bokamper declined to go into more specific financials, and neither
do I – after all, this is a sports column, not an economics one! That said, thet 20 percent loss in sales he spoke of... was implied as a yearly loss. Whittier, however, was willing to throw out more specific numbers. “If
there had been no NFL season this year, the bar probably would have lost $100,000 in sales, maybe even more.” It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, if total revenue drops
$100,000, or 20 percent in one year, there are going to be job losses, and perhaps a loss of the business itself. In a region like Southwest Florida where so much of our economy is based on the restaurant and hotel industries, these losses would be devastating to the local economy. But enough of what could have been: The NFL is back, and that
makes sports fans happy! “I’m giddy about having it back,” exclaims Bokamper, who in addition to owning Bokamper’s, is a ten year veteran of the Miami Dolphins. “I’m very happy to see it back, and not just for business,” adds Whittier, “I’m a big Cowboys and Patriots fan…” Whittier let that thought trail off because his favorite team, the
Cowboys, finished at 6-10 last year and didn’t make the playoffs. His other team, the Patriots, is a favorite to make their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 years, after signing key free agents Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth in the shortened free agency period that followed the end of the lockout. Bokamper, of course, is a self proclaimed “Dolfan” as they call
themselves, and no matter how poorly the Dolphins seem to do, their fans remain as rabid as they come. I happen to be from metropolitan Detroit, and therefore am a Lions fan. That’s right, I’m willing to admit that publicly, but only because my team is going all the way this year, baby! Super Bowl, here we come! So thank you, NFL, for making sure that the greatest sport ever invented wasn’t shelved to collect dust.
Jack’s Bait Shack: 975 Imperial Golf Course Blvd. Naples, FL Bokamper’s Sports Bar & Grill: 8990 Fontana Del Sol Way, Naples, FL
Pulse Magazine SWFL | 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76