this Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Playoffs and Formula 1 Montreal Grand Prix One economist says it will have zero net economic impact on Canada, but some business groups and local restaurant owners expect a surge in business.
Neither event will create new permanent jobs, said Moshe Lander of Concordia University, who also argued that if people spend more money now to celebrate the events, it just means they may spend less on other things later, resulting in no net benefit to the economy.
“If we get addicted to watching the Oilers, like people did when the Raptors were in the (NBA) Finals, and we have viewing parties across Canada, then next month you’re going to get a credit card bill,” he said, “and that credit card bill is going to have a high interest rate attached to it.”
“If our revenue doesn't change, then you'll find everybody saying 'This is great! The Oilers doing well will do wonders for my business.' I'll find another business (owner) saying 'Where is everybody? Our place is empty.'”
This insight appears to contradict some reports.
An Edmonton business association told Global News the city believes “Spending surged 25% to 150%“Playoff night. The president of BC Restaurant Group said that each playoff game will increase by about Restaurant profits drop by $2 million across the provinceEven the bars in Calgary, the home of the Oilers' archrival, say They saw a huge improvement.
“Any Canadian team, we'll have people come and watch,” Saskatoon bar owner Gary Baba told The Globe.
Bubba runs Wendell Clark’s Classic Grill & Bar, named after the former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He said even on Tuesdays and Thursdays during this year's playoffs, his business was up about 25 percent because Canadian teams were still playing.
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“You could hear them screaming so loud,” he said, describing fans wearing jerseys and staying there for three or four hours.
Last year things were different. Baba said customers would come in, eat and watch, then leave.
Lander said any boom would be limited to industries such as restaurants. If restaurants hired more workers during peak periods, they would recruit workers from other similar jobs.
F1 races might be different because foreign tourists might come to Montreal and spend money in its hotels and restaurants, bringing in new money, but Lander said that doesn't matter.
“But here’s the thing — those hotels would have been full anyway,” he argued in that city.
Montreal's tourist season is always packed with people and events, and he said the revenue that F1 brings to Montreal is not much different from other festivals.
He believes those “tourists” who travel to Montreal and other Canadian cities and provinces could bring in more revenue than “F1 fans” who are likely to leave after the three-day event.
The two chamber presidents questioned Rand's analysis.
“These are exactly the type of tourists we want, because these are the people who come here to spend money,” Michel Leblanc, president of the Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, told Global News. “They find Montreal quite cheap compared to Monaco, Dubai or other places (where Formula 1 is held).”
“Not only do they stay in hotels, they spend money in restaurants, buy souvenirs and sometimes visit places around town, museums and so on. But they do more than other types of tourists.”
He said of the many events held in Montreal, the Grand Prix has the biggest impact, bringing in $162 million last year, $110 million of which came from visitors from outside Quebec.
“People are coming here from all over the country and all over the world. So it's definitely a good thing,” Patrick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, said days after the city hosted SailGP, an international sailing regatta.
They are divided on whether local hockey fans will support the Oilers.
Sullivan said he hadn’t heard how many people had booked to see the first game on Saturday, but he was sure the bar would be packed.
“We're heading into June. People are more excited to go out, go downtown, go to patios. I think the hockey games are the icing on the cake,” he told Global News.
LeBron said he “didn't want to give the impression that this was a sports bar boom. It wasn't,” but he did call it a fun moment for hockey fans.
“In Montreal, there’s not as much electricity,” LeBlanc said.
LeBron and Lander agree on one thing: They say the team's success inspires civic pride, which LeBron adds can inspire optimism and “allow us to take more risks when we spend our money.”
Again, Rand said this might boost growth in some industries, but any lasting economic benefit would need to come from new jobs.
— With information from Caley Gibson, Tomasia DaSilva, Simon Little and Cassidy Mosconi of Global News
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
