Lincoln – After a few months of cold weather and no football, Husker fans are usually itching for action when the Red-White Spring Game rolls around each year in mid-April.

The game gives thousands a good excuse to spend a few hours outside, reunite with tailgating buddies and fill the streets of Lincoln’s downtown.April 18 would have been a perfect day for it, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s.

However, the fans weren’t the only ones missing out on an annual rite of passage because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The game’s cancellation marked arguably the biggest hit yet for Lincoln area businesses, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

Restaurants and bars were feeling the pain of lost revenue as customers trickled in to get take-out orders on what otherwise would have been a lucrative day.

Brewsky’s Food and Spirits South general manager Jason Hoke said that the Haymarket location would have made upward of $30,000 if the game had been played. Other Brewsky’s locations could have pulled in another $10,000.

“But we’ve been losing money since the start of March Madness,” Hoke said. “We just completely lost all of the money we could have made then.”

Matt Gohring, brewer and co-owner of Code Beer Company, said while his business gets less attention from postgame crowds than those closer to Memorial Stadium, the company is still down to 40% of its typical revenue.

It’s hard to say how much of the loss can be attributed to the cancellation of events, he said, but Code Beer typically draws business from those sources.

“It certainly helps when people are out and about wanting to spend money,” Gohring said.

Code Beer is doing its best to generate business by offering take-out food and selling beer to go during the pandemic, but Gohring said having the taproom closed is a major blow. He said the company is unable to use its part-time taproom staff and had to let the taproom manager go.

But the support of the community has been vital, Gohring said.

“It’s been really amazing to see people coming out and making a point to spend their money on local businesses,” he said.

While Code Beer is happy to have that support, Gohring said he looks forward to being able to open the taproom again as soon as it’s safe for people to gather and spend time together.

But nobody knows when that will be.

It’s unclear whether the seven Nebraska home football games will be played as scheduled this fall. Same goes for other big events, such as concerts and the National High School Finals Rodeo at the Lancaster Event Center, which was projected to have a $16 million economic impact on the city this summer.

“It’s scary as a business owner,” Gohring said. “But it’s kind of affecting everybody.”

Han Chu, general manager of Big Red Restaurant and Sports Bar, also said it’s a shaky situation for restaurateurs.

“I don’t know if the industry can bounce back,” he said. “But we’re really lucky to be getting the payroll protection from the stimulus package.”

Last year, the West O Street location made upward of $12,000 the day of the Spring Game. This year, Chu projected $2,000.

“Last year was a record high for us,” he said. “Now we’re at an 80-90% revenue loss.”