Browns game change impacts downtown economy

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Browns rescheduled game is impacting downtown Cleveland businesses whose livelihood revolves around making money on gameday.

John Stiles the General Manager at the Winking Lizard Galleria location has never had an NFL game switch impact his restaurant, until this weekend.

“This is unprecedented. My gut instinct tells me that we’re probably going to do two-thirds of the business that we normally do. I got a skeleton crew on as much as I could. I had to bring people in but it will definitely be a challenge on Monday,” said Stiles.

Despite the business he may lose, Stiles is making the most of this fiasco by making sure whenever NFL fans head into his restaurant this weekend, he and his crew are there to get them a seat and a cold beer.

“Let’s be honest Vegas fans are all over the country. They’re not really in Vegas. We had some people here last night who drove in from Pittsburgh, they’ll be back Monday. We had some people who are flying in from Texas, they’ll have to leave tomorrow,” said Stiles.

For now, all these businesses can do is keep their doors open Monday night, and hope the fans come pouring in.

“Majority of the businesses are okay with it that don’t have to rely on Browns game days in the middle of winter. That’s what we rely on this time of the year,” said Stiles.

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