Economy doesn't hamper Super Bowl bar business

CHILDREN. TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE GATHERED TO WATCH SUPER BOWL 43 TONIGHT--- A FEW LUCKY P...  More »

CHILDREN. TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE GATHERED TO WATCH SUPER BOWL 43 TONIGHT--- A FEW LUCKY PEOPLE WERE IN TAMPA--- BUT MANY GATHERED AT SPORTS BARS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO CHEER ON THEIR TEAM... BUT WITH THE BAD ECONOMY, MANY ALBUQUERQUE BAR OWNERS WERE EXPECTING MORE FANS TO JUST STAY HOME. JEFF MAHER STOPPED BY SOME BARS TO SEE IF THAT HAPPENED. HE'S LIVE NEAR LOUISIANA AND MENAUL WITH TONIGHT'S TOP STORY. CLOSE TO 250 PEOPLE PACKED INSIDE UPTOWN SPORTS BAR FOR ITS ANNUAL SUPER BOWL PARTY -- THE BAR OWNER SAYS HE'S NOT FEELING THE EFFECTS OF THE RECESSION. AND THAT SEEMS TO BE THE CASE FOR MOST PLACES THAT ARE STILL IN BUSINESS, BUT THE SUMMER MONTHS COULD BE A DIFFERENT STORY. 'it's hard to predict, that's what's been the issue, so I don't know, some lunches you're twiddling your thumbs and then the next day you get slammed' ERNIE BLACKSTONE OPENED COACHES, ON CENTRAL MORE THAN ELEVEN YEARS AGO. HIS BUSINESS IS STAYING STRONG, BUT HE SAYS CUSTOMERS ARE MORE CAREFUL WITH THEIR SPENDING, AND SAYS THE SUMMER MONTHS COULD BE ROUGH BECAUSE BASEBALL IS NOT NEARLY AS BIG OF A DRAW AS FOOTBALL. 'as to what's going to happen after football or march madness, we'll see, times are very uneasy, you can feel it in the customers, there's an err of cautiousness' AT UPTOWN SPORTS BAR, A BIG CROWD PACKED INSIDE TO WATCH THE GAME. AND BIG CROWDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED DURING THE TYPICALLY SLOW SUMMER MONTHS, BECAUSE THE BAR SHOWS U-F-C FIGHTS -- WHICH IN SOME CASES ARE A BIGGER DRAW THAN FOOTBALL. 'I believe I'm in a really good area, I think the uptown area is a good place to be in, I know I have a lot of good specials, I think that helps in a downturn' THE LIBRARY BAR AND GRILL DOWNTOWN IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE A SPORTS BAR. BUT THEY THREW A SUPERBOWL PARTY ANYWAY-- MOST TABLES WERE RESERVED. 'it's crazy, the economy seems to be going down but for us luckily we are still on the upswing' UPTOWN SPORTS BAR, THE LIBRARY, AND COACHES HAVE NOT HAD TO DO ANY LAYOFFS, A HIRING FREEZE OR CUTBACKS. BUT ONE THING THEY DO FACE IS A RISING COST IN FOOD PRICES, FORCING SOME MANAGERS TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT NOT OVERSTOCKING THEIR PRODUCTS. LIVE IN NORTHEAST ALBUQUERQUE. JEFF MAHER. EYEWITNESS NEWS FOUR.  « Less