Vancouver comedy club not laughing about FIFA World Cup revenue drop
We’re just about a week into the wild FIFA World Cup festivities in Vancouver, but a local comedy club isn’t having a laugh about it.
Underground Comedy Club, which hosts shows in the basement of The Hoxton restaurant, says that the FIFA World Cup is hurting and not helping business.
The Hoxton, located at 120 West Hastings St., dedicates its square footage to promoting local artists, whether that’s painters, sculptors, musicians, or comedians.
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Jon Gagnon owns the Underground Comedy Club, and he said he wanted to believe that the FIFA World Cup would attract an influx of tourism.
“It seems perhaps [fewer] tourists have come so far than expected, and what we’re left with are two new challenges: locals avoiding downtown and competition with the tournament as an entertainment option.”
We chatted with Gagnon, who told Daily Hive that the club always knew the priority for visitors was watching soccer.
“However, we hoped that beyond the matches, some people would also spend time exploring the city and taking in Vancouver’s entertainment scene,” he said, adding that so far it has been the opposite.
Gagnon and the club hope that locals don’t shy away from downtown due to traffic and road closures, and the club is still easy to get to by car, foot, or public transit.
The club has taken a variety of approaches to advertising for the World Cup.
“We made a sandwich board and handed out discounted and free tickets on Robson Street and Granville Street. We added World Cup-themed shows to our programming,” Gagnon said, among other efforts.
However, it has not led to an attendance increase for the Vancouver comedy club.
In fact, revenue during the first weekend of the tournament was down 33.5 per cent, and down 26.1 per cent compared to the same period a month earlier.
It’s also already a tough neighbourhood at the best of times.
“It’s great that the new map for the tournament (yeah, the one that rebranded the area as Hastings Crossing featuring a Mexican Barrio) highlights our neighbourhood’s art, music, and comedy scene,” Gagnon said.
However, he added that just as people have been surprised to learn about Mexican businesses in the area, many may not realize that three comedy venues operate year-round within blocks of each other, “acting as the foundation for what is becoming recognized as the best stand-up comedy scene in Canada.”
Gagnon echoed what many have been saying about the area, hoping that leaders in the city take steps to make the neighbourhood safer, cleaner, and easier to conduct business in.
It’s not just the Underground Comedy Club, as Gagnon has heard from nearby businesses that sales were also much lower than expected.
“The World Cup has proven to be a competitor for comedy. It’s drawing audiences away from other entertainment options. We’ve also heard locals say they are avoiding downtown right now because of the expected increase in traffic and closures around BC Place.”
We asked Gagnon whether or not soccer fans have a sense of humour.
“If you’ve ever listened to the lyrics of a soccer chant, then you know World Cup fans have a great sense of humour. We just want them to know that checking out a stand-up comedy show will make their visit to Vancouver even more memorable!”