BC Business
With Vancouver fans adopting the Seattle Seahawks as the local NFL team, establishments across the city are gearing up for major business this Sunday.
“People in Vancouver are genuinely excited about the Super Bowl. It has brought an extra fan base to football that maybe wouldn’t normally watch but are excited because they are treating it like our home team is playing and it’s our chance to win the championship,” says Chris Hannan, general manager of The Charles Bar.
The last time the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl was in 2006 when they lost to the the Pittsburg Steelers. Fan excitement in Vancouver has been growing during playoffs as the Seahawks inched closer to the championship.
“I was here when we played the San Francisco 49ers and the place was crazy,” says Michael Sheppard, assistant general manager of The Pint Public house. “We were at capacity just before the game started.”
A total of 500 people, about 80 per cent Seahawks fans, crammed into the Pint to catch that game, which has fueled an aggressive rivalry between Seattle and San Francisco. Sheppard counts himself a Seahawks fan and goes down to Seattle to attend five games a season, often making a weekend out of it.
“There are quite a lot of fans. I think they have 10,000 season ticket holders from Vancouver that actually have tickets to the Seahawks because we are so close to Seattle. Everyone is waiting for Sunday for Seattle to hopefully win,” he says.
The Pint stopped taking taking reservations two weeks ago and capped its reservations at 175 people. It is airing the game on its 90 screens – the most in Vancouver – with the morning starting off with a Super Bowl brunch. The Charles Bar has only a few tables left which will be available on a first come first serve basis and will be showing the game on a nine-foot video wall.
“This year especially, the Superbowl is going to be extremely important. It is going to be a very big day,” says Hannan, adding that The Charles Bar took its first Super Bowl reservations right after last years championship.
Hannan and Sheppard expect it to be the biggest Super Bowl party yet. Both bars will have drink specials and The Charles Bar will be giving away prizes, including tickets to the Winter Classic. With the game kicking off at 3:30, Sheppard recommends getting to the Pint no latter than 1 p.m.