Tim Mahoney can hear the cracks of the bat from his sports bar steps away from Target Field. He’ll miss the roar of the crowds as the Twins’ home opener Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals will be without fans in the stands.
The fanless games — instituted across Major League Baseball as a precaution against coronavirus — will be a major blow to downtown Minneapolis bars, restaurants and other businesses that have become dependent on the Twins foot traffic to buoy their sales, owners and managers said.
“The thing about it that we are all going to miss is the excitement. … For the home opener, you can sit outside and hear the fans,” said Mahoney, owner of the Loon Cafe. “You can hear the roar of the crowd.”
The Twins’ home opener is normally one of the busiest days of the year for the Loon Cafe, located on 1st Avenue near the light-rail line down the street from Target Field.
By late morning, the restaurant would normally be at capacity. The sports bar would start to resemble a family reunion with regular season-ticket holders meeting with each other and chatting with restaurant staff who they know by name, Mahoney said.
But without ticket holders going to and from the stadium, he expects the atmosphere to be subdued with about a quarter of the usual home opener crowd.
Adhering to state guidelines, the Loon Cafe like other restaurants has been open with limited capacity for indoor and outdoor diners since last month, after having to close for the spring due to the spread of COVID-19.
Business has been slow with so many downtown offices empty as employees who can are still working at home.
“We are in the middle of the business district and there’s no business,” Mahoney said.
Eric Fortney, who co-owns Brothers Bar & Grill with his brother Marc, said it hasn’t been profitable to run his establishment during the pandemic, and the lack of fans and shortened 60-game schedule add up to a “huge loss.”
For previous home openers, Brothers would open early in the morning and sometimes host KFAN personalities who would broadcast live from the rowdy bar with 400 to 500 fans crammed into the establishment’s two levels.
“It’s devastating to the Warehouse district,” Fortney said, about the fanless home opener. “It’s devastating to the bars and restaurants. … It’s a terrible situation on top of a terrible situation.”
While some fans might venture to their local watering hole to watch the game Tuesday, Fortney said he was doubtful that customers from the suburbs would venture to his sports bar.
“Is somebody from Plymouth or Minnetonka or Eden Prairie going to drive into downtown to watch the game? Probably not,” he said. But he added he would send a prayer up to the baseball gods that customers do stop by Brothers on Tuesday.
The impact on businesses shouldn’t be understated, according to Steve Cramer, president and chief executive of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
“Restaurants and bars that are open will no doubt be tuned to the game and attract some fans,” Cramer said, in an e-mail. “But it won’t be the same, and the positive economic impact just won’t be there.”
The Downtown Council has created a group of downtown restaurant stakeholders to discuss public health standard protocol as well as find ways to help patrons feel confident as they return to downtown restaurants.
“Our restaurant scene is dynamic, internationally-acclaimed, and vital to our city’s vibrancy,” Cramer said. “Supporting the important work of this industry is a critical part of downtown’s reanimation.”
Twitter: @nicolenorfleet