Photo by wallyg

The Verizon Center isn’t exactly a happy place these days. The Wizards are terrible, and the Caps haven’t even gotten a chance to play yet due to an extended lockout. And for businesses in and around Gallery Place, the atmosphere isn’t any better, WTOP reports:

“It impacts businesses around the whole Chinatown area,” says Marcelo Del Rio, a bartender/manager at the Redline bar, which lies across from the Verizon Center.

Del Rio says Redline has taken a big financial hit from the lack of games as the bar depends on the hockey season.

“A minimum of at least 20,000 people are in the area on those days.” he says of game days. “You could see a sea of red coming in here.”

But it’s not only the bars, restaurants and parking garages that are taking a hit from the lack of sports fans in Chinatown.

Jim Dinegar, president and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, says the lack of sports business also affects Metro and District coffers. If there are no games, Metro ridership dips. And if there are no ticket sales, the District collects no tax revenues.

Dinegar says the Verizon Center is its own economic engine. The arena employs full-time and part-time workers who manage those fancy suites, who sell beer and pizza, even those who sell sports paraphernalia like the foam fingers. Those employees also feel the pinch from the lack of work.

Unless the NHL and players come to an agreement soon (so far, games through December 14 have been cancelled) and the Wizards go on a tear—or at least win a game or two—it’s not looking too good for those businesses in the coming month or two. Maybe the only saving grace is that if the Wizards get any worse, fans will have to drink themselves into forgetting how bad the team is this year. Hopefully they’ll do so at local bars.