Ever since Scotland fans learned they’d begin the country’s ninth World Cup appearance in Boston, plans were being made for a party.
“I knew there was going to be a tsunami of Tartan Army (Scotland fans),” said Jason Waddleton, a Scotland native and owner of The Haven, a Scottish restaurant and bar in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood since 2010.
He was right.
First, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey agreed to temporarily extend bar and restaurant hours during the World Cup. Similar moves have been made in Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington.
Next came thousands of Scots — one estimate is as high as 50,000 — descending on the Boston area, including nearby Providence, Rhode Island, which has become a home base for many of them over the past few weeks.
Then it was the Tartan Army marching through Boston’s streets following the country’s opening win over Haiti last week — taking over the city’s famed Fenway Park alongside Red Sox Nation after the team dubbed it “Scottish Heritage Celebration Night.”
“They know how to party, how to make friends and influence people,” Waddleton said.
While the majority of the revelry has been fueled by Scotland positioning itself to advance to the World Cup knockout round for the first time heading into Friday’s matchup with Morocco.
It’s all added to a celebratory atmosphere not typically seen in Boston except on St. Patrick’s Day or the Fourth of July.
Scots fill pubs in the Boston area, challenging beer reserves
Along with all the World Cup spirit, Scotland has not only contributed to New England’s economy, but what has been a constantly fluctuating supply of beer.
That is particularly true of Tennent’s Lager, Scotland’s top-selling brand. Once only available at The Haven, before the tournament started Tennent’s made deals and distributed kegs of its product to 80 bars in Boston and surrounding areas.
At The Haven, Waddleton said he’s gone from four kegs a week to ordering 50 just for this week.
“We’ve basically blown through our own allocation. We still have it and we’ll get more in on Monday,” he said.
Samantha Crawford, the international marketing manager for Tennent’s, said they started preparing to distribute their product to the U.S. as soon as Scotland qualified for the the World Cup in November. They’ve also sent supplies to Miami bars ahead of Scotland’s match against Brazil next week.
“It’s been a long time in the making. The next day we got to work,” she said. “It’ very part of culture and sports and culture (in Scotland). It’s iconic. It just goes hand in hand when the teams play.”
Many area bars and restaurants have been caught by surprise
Mivan Spencer, owner of Caffe Dello Sport in Boston’s North End, said he is used to handling large crowds for major soccer tournaments, but has been surprised by the amount of business he’s seen during the World Cup.
“After the first weekend of matches I definitely ran out of almost everything,” Spencer said. “Luckily I have a couple other restaurants I borrowed product from to get me through.”
The first thing he sold out of was Tennent’s, before quickly selling out of Peroni.
Spencer said he’s since tripled his usual alcohol order for this week, saying it’s so “I don’t run out of a single thing.”
Over at High Street Place, a food hall in downtown Boston, beverage supplies that were expected to last a week were consumed in four days, said Lauren Johnson, a senior marketplace manager at the venue.
“Fortunately, we have great partners, and our distributors were able to pivot quickly and increase subsequent orders to keep pace with demand seamlessly,” she said.
Oran McGonagle, owner of the Dubliner, said their location near Boston’s fan zone has paid off.
“We were ready, we were stocked,” he said. “I think we’re still the only bar that has the Scottish beer left in the city right now, so we were well prepared.”
