As the MLB regular season is edging toward the playoffs, The NBA and NHL and many college sports are on the cusp of their seasons, and the NFL is starting its 18-week battle for the coveted Super Bowl. While all gamedays offer excellent opportunities for restaurants, the weeks that offer up the NFL regular season can be some of the most lucrative when done properly. While the players, coaches, and fans prepare themselves for North America’s most-watched sport, you will need to ensure your business and staff are equally prepared. So long as you have everything arranged, you can maximize both your profits and your customers’ enjoyment.
Readying your business and staff for gameday can be both more demanding and less stressful compared to regular services. While the influx of customers will almost certainly be higher than normal, you can easily ensure your restaurant is curated for this one large crowd. From food and drink specials to specialized music or video playlists, there are many ways for you to make this night of the week Sunday “Funday”.
Game Day Promotions
Every good sporting event needs some stellar and memorable food and drink specials that help promote the game, bring people into your restaurant to watch the game, and keep them in their seats for later games and post-game coverages. The gameday crowd will tend to be larger groups that will want to share cheap and often deep-fried foods with their friends. Offering a two-for-one appetizer special – particularly for items like wings, onion rings, or fries – is a smart and easy way to bring in revenue. Differentiating your specials from those of your competitors will make your business a unique and exciting experience for customers that will bring them back for game two, three, four, and beyond.
When creating your promotions, you should always have a situational awareness about the game: what are the teams or their mascots? What do you know about the key players on the teams? Which team is favored to win? Is it a big momentous game (a rivalry game or playoff game)? Implementing personalized ideas into your promotions can make them unique to your business and fun for the customers.
Engage Your Team
Something that might seem both obvious and overlooked is the morale of your employees, your team. They keep your business running smoothly, and having a large influx of customers during gamedays can become stressful and overwhelming for your team, no matter how regular these types of events can be. Engaging your team members can be anything from giving them specific work loads to offering them additional benefits for working an overly busy day. (Free appetizers or drinks after work, anyone?) Workers appreciate being appreciated; showing them you care about how they work and what they do before and after the game can go a long way to improve both your employees’ morale and your customers’ overall experience.
Prepare, Develop, and Display
After you’ve created your promotions and prepared your team for a hard but fun gameday workday, your music and digital signage will help you develop the right atmosphere and showcase all your dedication. Control Play will help with creating those perfect gameday playlists – pregame music that sets the tone, songs that play during the game to get the fans hyped for every play (think AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” or Queen’s ultimate pump-up classic “We Will Rock You”), and the postgame revelry to keep the adrenaline going: there needs to be the right music for the right moment all day.
You will also need to promote your own business: use eye-catching and informative digital signage to help display all that you have to offer for the game and beyond (see below). Customers may know that their favorite game is happening, but they won’t know what’s happening at your restaurant without being shown. Put on display your readiness for gameday and your dedication to your customers, and you will see an increase in both your loyal fanbase and your revenue.
By keeping your business fun, inviting, and well-tuned, you will be gameday ready all season long.