Ax-throwing and alcohol: What could go wrong?
Cities around the country are approving liquor licenses for ax-throwing venues — and Seattle is getting one too.
By wire reports|The Associated Press
October 12, 2018
Venues around the country are opening that want to capitalize on a growing national sport: competitive ax throwing. And many are being granted liquor licenses.
Recently, venues where people hurl axes at wooden targets were granted the OK to serve beer in Omaha, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C. Several others are already in operation around the country. Most venues serve only beer and wine.
Competitive ax-throwing company Kraken Axes was awarded a liquor license late last month, becoming the first Washington, D.C., establishment to let patrons mix booze and sharp weaponry.
“The immediate reaction is, ‘You’re throwing axes? That sounds crazy!’ ” said Mario Zelaya, president and CEO of Bad Axe Throwing, which has a venue in northeast Washington, D.C. “And then when you introduce alcohol, people think you’re really nuts. . . . But we haven’t had any injuries — unless you count paper cuts.”
In an attempt to warm city officials to the idea of alcohol in the ax-throwing range, the venues have all vowed to follow safety protocols, including having trained coaches in each lane where axes are being thrown and separating the bar from the throwing zone.
Bad Axe has a liquor license at a handful of its other U.S. locations.
Kick Axe Throwing has also secured a liquor license in Washington, D.C., though it is not expected to open for business until next year. Kick Axe serves liquor at its Brooklyn venue, and is also planning a location in Philadelphia.
A Missouri-based company is planning to bring a Blade and Timber location to Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood this fall, with bar service. A Portland location is also in the works.
Ax throwing, a sport typically found at lumberjack competitions and Renaissance festivals, involves chucking hatchets at wooden targets, and has taken off throughout the country over the past year.
It’s like bowling, experts like to say. But sharper.
At Flying Timber, in Omaha, short-handled axes will be tossed at targets about 15 feet away (5 meters). Groups of up to six people will compete in each of eight throwing lanes. The cost: $20 a person for an hour.
Flying Timber owner Matt Wyant told the council that staff “throwing coaches” will monitor the lanes and keep intoxicated people away from the sharp objects. He also agreed to a condition: no holding of beer cans while throwing.
In Salt Lake City, Social Axe co-owner Mark Floyd said his company “is a recreational amenity almost identical to a bowling alley,” except customers throw axes at a wooden target.
But that nature of the business does have some members of the state commission worried. The commission asked the company to return in six months and report on any safety issues or underage drinking problems.
“On one hand, we want to do what we can to allow people to engage in recreational activities” commissioner Thomas Jacobson said.
But Social Axe is the first Utah business of its kind to get a recreational beer license, making it “unknown territory,” he said.
Floyd said employees will scan IDs at the door and minors will be required to wear a wristband. The activity is open to those 15 and older, but anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent. Customers also must wear closed-toed shoes.