Castro Merchants Seek Super Bowl Business

With a special advertising campaign and a series of bar events and other promotions, Castro merchants are hoping to score some Super Bowl business next week.

The National Football League's championship game between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers will be played Sunday, February 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. Leading up to the sporting contest will be multiple events in San Francisco, beginning Saturday, January 30 when the free-to-enter Super Bowl City opens at Justin Herman Plaza in front of the Ferry Building.

Yet due to the decision by city transit officials to run buses instead of the iconic F-Line trolley cars along Market Street, many merchants cried foul that they would not see any uptick in business from the estimated 1 million people expected to visit during Super Bowl Week.

As the Bay Area Reporter reported in December, Castro merchants slammed the San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee and city leaders for their decision to mothball the historic trolley cars for three weeks to accommodate the construction, duration, and then demolition of the fan village at the foot of Market Street.

They feared few tourists would jump aboard the replacement buses and eschew altogether going to the gay Castro district.

In response to the merchants' complaints, the Mayor's Office of Workforce and Economic Development ponied up roughly $2,000 for a special marketing campaign to drive visitors to the Castro district, said Daniel Bergerac, president of the Castro Merchants business group. And various groups are paying to runs ads in the B.A.R. Thursday and next week promoting the gayborhood.
A banner promoting the Castro greets Muni riders at the Embarcadero station. Photo: Cynthia Laird

As part of the promotional push, banners went up this week at three downtown Muni and BART stations encouraging people to visit the Castro. They read, "Why just stare at seal lions when you can pet actual bears?" a tongue-in-cheek reference to hirsute gay men.

Along with instructions on how to reach the "Friendly Castro" via Muni's underground trains, the banners also direct people to the website http://www.visitsupercastro.com/. It went live this month to promote to out-of-town visitors the various stores, restaurants and bars in the Castro, which the site denotes is "A Super Community."

According to an email sent out earlier this month to Castro Merchants members, there will also be 2,500 bright pink bus ad cards promoting the gayborhood inside Muni buses and way-finding signs at key points around Super Bowl City instructing visitors how to get to the Castro.

"You always hope for more," said Bergerac, a co-owner of Mudpuppy's Tub and Scrub on Castro Street. "I think, overall, we did pretty well. I am excited to see what sort of response we get out of it."

Jesse Woodward, co-owner of Hi Tops, the gay sports bar on upper Market Street in the Castro, said he expects to see the usual bump in business that his bar has experienced during past Super Bowls. If the San Francisco 49ers were playing, Woodward said his bar would likely see even more of an uptick in customers.

"It has always been a big day for us so far. I think, definitely, the busiest would be if the 49ers were in it," he said. "So I think it will feel like every other Super Bowl. That is to say it will be crowded and busy for us but not as busy as if the Niners were in it."

To help drum up more business this year, Woodward is bringing in gay former football player Michael Sam to greet fans at Hi Tops from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 5. Sam came out just prior to the 2014 NFL draft and was chosen by the St. Louis Rams. The team shortly thereafter cut him, and the Dallas Cowboys briefly signed him for its practice squad before letting him go. Sam then signed a two-year deal with the Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, where he played defensive end before stepping away from the game last summer.

Woodward is hopeful Sam will also be at Hi Tops Sunday during the Super Bowl broadcast. He is also planning a Castro bar crawl from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, February 6 that will include Hi Tops, the Lookout, the Midnight Sun, and the Edge.

"I think people are definitely going to have their feathers ruffled about the Super Bowl no matter what. The F-Line being taken down is a bummer for the neighborhood," said Woodward. "We are dealing with it the best we can and trying to promote the neighborhood the best we can."

He commended the Castro Merchants group for its campaign to encourage people to visit the neighborhood and believes it will attract the public's notice.

"I think it will be a fun week if you can get around the traffic," said Woodward. "It is pretty fun to have one million people coming to the city and spending money."

Gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener said he shares in the complaints of Castro merchants and residents about seeing the F-Line trolleys not running. But he also thanked Mayor Ed Lee's administration for responding to the concerns.

"I would like to see the F-Line on Market running to the Castro and I am disappointed it is not. Though, I understand why they couldn't do it with the Super Bowl village being where it is," said Wiener. "I am grateful the mayor's office and the SFMTA invested in terms of advertising to drive people to the Castro. It wasn't our first choice, but I am grateful the agency at least acknowledged they needed to step up to help our merchants."