Tuesday's announcement that the Hawks would not compete in the upcoming season for financial reasons will deprive nearby restaurants and bars of their game-night crowds.

Michael Bolt, who owns the Five Islands Brewing Company, rostered extra staff on Hawks game nights to cater for the extra patrons.

"On Hawks night you would put an extra three staff on," he said.

"Those are casual jobs that won't be there."

A five-minute walk away, it's a similar story.

At Litani's Lebanese Restaurant on Corrimal St, owner Chris Agno said crowds would fill the restaurants in the area on game night.

"After the game people would come, have coffee, cakes and discuss what happened - a lot of people would congregate here," he said.

Without the Hawks, he said, staff might lose one shift but the greater loss was "the prestige of having a national league side".

At WIN Entertainment Centre, about 40 maintenance staff no longer will be required to set up and cater for crowds.

"Every time the Hawks play we have to lay the floor and bring out the backboard," WIN Entertainment Centre general manager Stuart Barnes said.

"It usually takes a team of 10 guys two working days.

"Then you have cleaners, security, ushers who are employed for the evening - those causal shifts won't be happening," he said.

"It's not just about the money - it's about employment of our people," Mr Barnes said.

The collapse of the team had put more pressure on the WEC's finances, already under strain from the global economic crisis, he said.

"It won't be the end of the world, or the end of the WEC but it makes it a lot harder," he said.

Foundation Hawks board member Chris Beaven said the loss of the team would mean millions of dollars lost to the region.

"The ongoing effect of this team not being there will be devastating," she said.