Sports bars are a beloved haunt for several groups of people, irrespective of the sport of their preference. This allows sports bars to cater to multiple sections of customers year-round, and bring in considerable amounts of business. However, the sheer number of establishments of the same variety, off-season periods, the several factors that determine a team’s performance, and the limitations posed by the running themes of a sports bar, can lead to a slump in business.
Here are some effective ideas for your Sport Bar
With intuitive sports bar ideas, you can make sure your business sees constant footfall irrespective of the season, the local team’s performance, or the kind of competitors you’re up against. By implementing effective sports bar marketing strategies and advertising models, you can establish yourself as a popular hangout for both sports fanatics and casual patrons. Here are a few sports bar ideas and some of the best sports bar concepts to help you encash profits regularly:
- Offer Pay-per-view Events to Customers
Several sporting events come with a pay-per-view option, but find few takers despite many individuals being interested in them. Most people do not want to pay full price for these events, and you could offer these broadcasts to your patrons at a small cover price to help you foot the costs for buying the subscriptions. Most customers would rather visit a screening to watch the pay-per-view game with fellow fans or friends instead of watching it at home. This sports bar idea is a simple and sure-shot method of getting your bar packed on a game night. Don’t forget to advertise the event on your social media page along with conventional sports bar advertising like flyers & posters.
- Introduce Competitive Events
Actively engaging customers is a great way to market your establishment. Turning your business into an ‘events sports bar’ has numerous benefits. Since most people love to indulge in games, you can offer handsome prizes to winners to make sure they return for more, often with friends. You can offer free meals, gift cards, or even other prizes like electronics, if you’re willing to invest in the strategy. Common games include fantasy football drafts, trivia nights, pool matches, and ping pong tournaments. You can also modify existing rules for games to suit your sports bar theme’s ideas.
- Offer Discounted Nights & Events
This sports bar idea is especially useful during the slow months, whether it's off-season or when the local team has bye-weeks. You can offer discounted prices on wings or beer to pull in crowds. Offers like buy-one-get-one on drinks, or half-priced wings can really get the ball rolling, and bring in more customers very quickly. You can make up for the discount prices quite easily, as customers will place more orders for both drinks and appetizers. While this sports bar marketing technique is great for small groups and individual customers, it's even more effective when you use it to incentivize large groups and parties. You can also use discounted prices and offers to attract customers looking to celebrate occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries at your sports bar. Be prepared to serve large numbers of guests on discounted days and get yourself the appropriate equipment. Outfit your bar with underbar equipment like underbar ice bins, and purchase quality beer coolers to serve your customers seamlessly.
- Sports Bar Leagues
You can put in some extra effort into the existing games at your establishment and build leagues around those games to drive more engagement and footfall. Whether it’s dartboards, billiards, or fooseball, you can get your guests to come in every week just to compete in the leagues based out of your establishment. This is one of the best sports bar ideas to help your business bring in consistent revenue, while also running a steady promotion that attracts new customers every week.
- Live Appearances Can Go a Long Way
Hosting an active or retired athlete at your sports bar to interact with your customers is a great method of sports bar advertising. Though it’s a technique deployed by several sports bars, it works. Most patrons love to meet and interact with famous local sports stars or athletes that contributed to the team in the past. The opportunity also allows your customers to get their jerseys and other memorabilia autographed. Before you invite these personalities, be sure to take into consideration your customers’ preferences, and don’t forget to advertise the event sufficiently to increase the number of fans on the day of the event.
- Become A Sponsor
While sponsoring large franchises and professional teams costs large sums of money, a simple way to gain traction is by sponsoring sports charities and little league teams. Not only does this drive local engagement by reaching out to potential customers, but it also helps you actively contribute to the community, which is an important aspect of driving engagement and creating a good impression in the minds of potential clientele. You can also support other amateur leagues and mini-games to tap into more customer pools while you’re trying out different sports bar marketing strategies.
- Showcase Live Artists & Host Performances
You can always get local bands, solo artists, and comedians to perform at your sports bar on the slower days. Not only will the artists pull crowds, but they’ll also bring along friends and family to their show - a factor that will help you cash in more sales and revenue. Do thorough research on the kind of content the artists produce and try to watch their earlier performances before you decide on hosting them. Make sure you promote these events on both conventional and social media platforms to help your regulars know. These sport bar ideas allow you to cater to non-sports crowds in addition to your regulars, ensuring you’re bringing in multiple sources of revenue from diverse customer groups.
- Contribute to Local Charities
Donating to charity is a great way to create a positive impact and impression on the local community. Contribute to charities in the community and those recommended or endorsed by your customers. Not only does this build trust among your clientele, but also helps you get your name out there in a positive manner. Apart from the obvious marketing benefits, the charity also helps you give back to causes that are important to your community. This ensures that you’re a responsible and conscious business.
- Ask Customers What They’d Like
Despite the effectiveness of marketing and advertising programs, nothing beats the personal touch of feedback and its implementation. One of the best sports bar concepts involves getting in touch with your customers and asking them what they’d want to see at your establishment. This makes your customers feel heard and appreciated for their continued loyalty and business. You can create a list of customer demands and implement the most popular requests.
- Focus on The Decor & Interior
Make sure your establishment looks attractive and lively. You can choose to hang up posters, memorabilia, and more to make sure the atmosphere in your sports bar fits the part. Customers often make decisions based on the general mood and vibe of an establishment. Creating attractive interiors for your sports bar is sure to drive active engagement and popularity. By setting up photo booths and cleverly crafted walls, you also offer opportunities to your customers to take pictures. These pictures land up on social media, which then drives indirect marketing, furthering your business’ online presence.
Sports bars provide business owners a great opportunity to serve diverse sets of patrons. You can implement these sports bar ideas and marketing strategies to ensure your business sees consistent customer footfall throughout the year, on or off-season. Actively interact with your customers, and build a business model around their preferences so your establishment is always on the top of its game.
