The Greatest Show On Turf: 12 Tips To Maximize Profits For Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl has become a national secular holiday in which any and all bars with a TV screen or large projector would be very unwise not to capitalize on. Despite some waning ratings during its regular season, the NFL shield is still strong, so whether or not this year beats 2015’s record 114.4 million viewers, it will no doubt be watched by many, many people producing many, many millions in on-premise receipts.

Billy Mulligan, General Manager at Croxley’s Ale House in Brooklyn, chatted with us on some nuanced ways to edge out the competition on gameday. Croxley’s has five NY locations, all of which are known as destinations for football fans. Maybe this is your first year of throwing a proper party for the Bowl or maybe you’ve been done it for years and just want some fresh ideas on maximizing profit. Either way, here are some ideas to keep your bar front and center in everyone’s mind as they’re planning where to watch the game. Many of these can also extend to other big sporting events like March Madness, the NBA Playoffs, the World Cup or any other major sporting event in your community.

1. Pre-sell seats to the big game|
You could do this the old fashioned way by just having guests call to reserve or you could use apps like Snagastool, Yelp or Groupon. At Croxley’s, for example, they charge $10 per seat. “We sell the seats just to get a guarantee – it’s the biggest sporting day of the year, and we’re a sports bar – so we do this to maximize our revenue and cover costs, basically,” says Mulligan. And Croxley’s does it “first come, first serve,” so the best seats go to the early birds. You could ask people to leave a deposit if you think there is a high demand, but that’s ultimately your call.

2. Don’t use the term “Super Bowl” in your marketing
The NFL does not like people using their trademarked phrases like “Super Bowl” or to rebroadcast its games (they take down all clips of NFL games on social media, for example). Though it seems like it might actually be the NFL overreaching the context of its actual mark, the league is very litigious and has been known to go after small businesses for using their phrase in ads. Bottom line: It’s just not worth the risk.

3. Offer fans special gameday promotions
From food to alcohol to group rates, there are so many ways to help lure in customers. Croxley’s offers 40 cent wings and $5 beers (it is New York, after all, so you can probably go lower in your market). You could do 2-for-1 drinks, pitcher deals or work with a catering vendor to come up with some ways to move more volume. Or you could do $10 per seat with 5 seats for $40 or some sort of bulk-buying discount. Figure out your promotion and get the word out through social media, newsletters, however you communicate with your customers.

4. Promote catering or coordinate with food trucks
If you don’t have a kitchen at your bar, it would be wise to figure out some way in which your customers can eat, because the worst thing would be for them to have to leave to do so. Work with a catering company or food truck and work out a commission of their sales or find some sort of other upfront fee and let them keep food receipts.

5. Offer an appropriately themed menu
If you want to get extra fancy, try a themed menu. You could offer things like a “Philadelphia Eagle Cheesesteak” (a play on the classic Philly staple, maybe even subbing chicken for beef) or a “New York Giants Manhattan” (just add blue food coloring to a regular Manhattan). It doesn’t have to be anything earth-shattering or expensive, just something different to goose your sales. It could be as simple as having bartenders offer customers garnish in either of the teams’ color schemes. Get creative.

6. Have outlets available or phone-charging stations
This generally applies to your bar but even more so when you want a customer to stay all day, as they’ll inevitably rack up a bigger bill. Just to state the obvious here: You’re not looking to turn over tables but, rather, keep people there as long as possible.

7. Decorate and design your space
Here’s an area where every bar owner and manager should feel free to go that extra mile to provide a memorable experience, especially if the bar is located around the region where a championship team comes from—or is in a city where the Super Bowl is hosted, which FYI, is Houston this year. “When the local teams do well, people wanna come out and root them on,” explains Mulligan. Get some balloons, streamers or party hats with the teams’ colors on them. Or create a scoreboard and nominate a supporter of each team to keep the scoreboard accurate as the game goes on. Get merchandise of each team and offer them as prizes if you want to have a trivia quiz or have guests guess the final score.

8. Make sure commercials are audible, too
Pro tip: A large part of the viewing audience doesn’t actually even care about the game itself. They’re there for the social experience or to watch ultra-expensive ads that will inevitability be ranked, reviewed and debated the next day.

9. Don’t overbook the game or try to hit your capacity
“You gotta find a balance between making sure that you get as many people to come in and that are still comfortable,” warns Mulligan. “Our capacity here is 256 and we don’t come close to selling that many spots.” Don’t get us wrong: You want to get as many patrons as you can, but not by compromising the experience for everyone. If you’re getting complaints that people are can’t see the screens, then you’ve got too many people. Try to use your space well and spread the crowd out, or open other areas like a patio or parking lot if you’re permitted to do so.

10. Hire a funny emcee with knowledge of the sport
A hipster rock bar in Los Angeles once brought in infamous alt-comedy performer Neil Hamburger to do (intentionally bad) jokes one year for their own ‘Super Bowl Halftime Show’. The owner knew his crowd, and knew they’d find him amusing, which they did. So, think about who your audience would find appropriately funny and book them to do their own color commentary or halftime act. It could even be a funny staff member or a manager themselves. This person could ask sports and pop culture trivia questions for small prizes and giveaways or do other kinds of crowd work, keeping everyone engaged during the 4-5 hours the games last. This will come in even more handy if the game becomes a blowout.

11. Resist the urge to bring in a DJ
Again: Know your crowd. Unless you think they’d really want music to accompany the game, depending on your establishment, don’t hire a  DJ to play during the commercials. As mentioned, many  people really do want to hear the commercials as well as watch the game. A lively atmosphere is great, but don’t distract from the main attraction.

12. Make sure you’re stocked up on booze and food
Sure this seems like a no-brainer, but it’s hard to underestimate Americans’ appetite for consumption during the winter months. Worst case scenario: you end up with extra and can donate to a local food bank or save for a Valentine’s Day promotion.

 

Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Heather Florence Marple earned BAs in English and International Relations from FSU. Now based in the Windy City, she writes about cocktail culture, food, travel, books and international law. You can find her behind the stick down at her local (shoutout to Bucktown!) or at home rearranging her crystals or soaking in her antique clawfoot bathtub with a glass of P. Grigio. Despite the fact that the she’s still climbing out of debt and entering a mad, mad world, she is definitely not jaded…yet. Follow her on Twitter at @heatheriscold.