Super Bowl XXXVIII - Panthers vs. Patriots

January 28, 2004

A WINDFALL: Sports bars, restaurants expect big business on Super Bowl Sunday

By Richard Craver | JOURNAL REPORTER

The competition for big-screen TV seats for Super Bowl XXXVIII may be as fierce at Triad sports bars and restaurants Sunday as the action on the field in Houston.

"We're telling people to come at least three hours early, especially if they want a good seat in the green room, where we're going to have a 100-inch screen set up," said Christina Cannady, the event coordinator for the Fox and Hound English Pub and Grille in Winston-Salem.

Cannady said that the pub expects to reach its 400-patron capacity well before the 6:25 p.m. kickoff between the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots. The pub will have 32 televisions, including four big screens, all tuned to the big game.

"Having the Panthers in the Super Bowl is a plus-plus for us because it could be a one-time deal that people will want to remember," Cannady said. "The only thing I believe that could beat the atmosphere we expect here Sunday would be for Wake Forest, Duke, Carolina or N.C. State to play each other in the NCAA championship game."

Fred Bell, the owner of Freddie B's off Deacon Boulevard in Winston-Salem, said that Sunday likely will be the most exhausting day of the year for his employees. He said he expects them to serve at least 200 customers.

"Even though it's a work day the next day, we're expecting people to begin arriving about the time we open up and staying well past the end of the game if the Panthers win," Bell said.

"Historically, we've drawn good Super Bowl crowds. But having a local team to pull for should ratchet up the excitement level a couple of extra notches," he said.

Grocery chains are preparing for a customer blitz that they say they believe will rival the effect of a winter-storm warning.

"This is the Carolinas' Super Bowl for the first time ever, and it appears that our customers are planning to party accordingly," said Tara Stewart, the communications director for Harris Teeter, which is based in Matthews.

"Our store managers tell us that some customers are stocking up for a nonstop party from the time they get off work Friday until after the game is over," Stewart said.

"We're just thankful that there was a week off before the Super Bowl so we could stock up on the essential party items," Stewart said. "We're also selling out of the cake sheets with the Panthers' logo on them as fast as we can make them."

Barry Foss, the manager of the Hooters restaurant at Hanes Square Circle in Winston-Salem, said that there is just something about being around a crowd that makes a big game even more special.

Foss said he expects to fill the restaurant's 170 seats well before kickoff.

"People like to compare their sports knowledge with other fans," Foss said.

"They like to root for their favorite team and jeer the poor saps who are pulling for the other team. Most of all, people love to celebrate a big victory in a crowd."

The Panthers' appearance in the Super Bowl has heated up a normally cool distribution season for Red Oak Brew Pub, which is based in Greensboro. The company supplies about 500 sports bars and restaurants in North Carolina.

"We've doubled up our distribution to Charlotte and expect our distribution to other accounts in the state to be up 50 (percent) to 100 percent by Sunday," said James Sherrill, the president of the company.

"The distribution probably will outdo even Duke or North Carolina playing in the NCAA finals, and that's a little tough to take, considering I'm a huge UNC fan," Sherrill said.

"But I'm a bigger fan of my business doing well."

• Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com