The On-Premise Oasis
Summer Presents Unique Opportunities For Sports Promotions

Football, basketball and hockey consistently all bring in the sports fans during the fall and winter months, and many bars focus all their promotional effort on only those sports. That’s fine, and it works well for many people, but don’t overlook summer sports.
    Baseball, golf, NASCAR and other sports go on all summer, and operators can take advantage of a largely under-appreciated sporting demographic to attract business during the slow summer months when many on-premise neighbors are sitting vacant.

Point of Difference
    “Everyone has televisions with sports on them these days. Hell, you can go to a Chinese restaurant and watch sports if you want. You have to offer something else,” says Dale Wilson, CEO of Trophy’s in San Diego. One of the easiest ways to fall into the trap of thinking you’re doing enough to promote sports in your bar is to rest on your television programming.
    “We have the MLB satellite package here; you just about have to these days,” Wilson says. “Especially here in San Diego, where everyone is from somewhere else, we have to be able to provide people with the sports they want to see.”
    But Wilson is quick to add, “We have great sports crowds when the Padres are doing well, but sometimes you have to have something else to get people in. We’re locally oriented, but we do want to take the high ground with our advertising. We use various activities and radio promotions during the summer months.”
    With Trophy’s location right next to Petco Park in San Diego’s Gaslight district, baseball is an easy choice of summer sporting promotions, but most bars don’t have that kind of location. If baseball fans are your main demographic, you might want to consider something extra besides good TV programming to keep your customers in their seats. Beer is an easy promotional tool, with many options like discounted drafts and 7th inning specials during games. You also can look into promoting a baseball pool using a local fantasy league and tying that into your customer base.

I Wanna Go Fast
    NASCAR is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States right now and should have a primo spot in your promotional calendar. With races that go on all summer, and a new playoff format, NASCAR fans will be among the most loyal and fun patrons you can attract.
    “We have a captive audience here in Daytona,” says Bill Clark of The Oyster Pub.     “We don’t offer drink specials for the races, but we make sure to have them up on all our TVs. We are relatively inexpensive to begin with, and I would say that NASCAR fans love to come here for the races.”
    For those unfamiliar with NASCAR, Daytona Beach, Florida hosts the Daytona 500 race, which is the Super Bowl of NASCAR races.
    “We also have a 4th of July race which is extremely popular and brings in a lot of business” says Clark.
    If you don’t happen to be in a NASCAR hotbed, you can bet there are lots of fans in your area looking for a place to congregate during racing season. Many promotional tools are out there for racing fans if you know where to look. One that could generate lots of interest is a virtual racing simulator from Los Angeles-based Speed Vision Racing. Their simulator boasts an 8-foot video screen and a 2,500-watt surround sound system which work in tandem to create an incredible 200-MPH tandem race in which patrons can compete against each other.

Missing Links?
    One sport that goes on all summer not to be underestimated is golf. Whether it’s the men or the women, the PGA tour has become a dependable draw with loyal fans over the past few years.
    Par-T Golf out of San Diego offers indoor golfing simulators to appeal to the same demographic that goes for Golden Tee.
    “You can play a full game of golf — front nine, back nine and even hit the driving range,” says Mike DiMase, V.P. of marketing at Par-T. The game offers hundreds of courses, he says.
    “We have all the PGA courses from Pebble Beach to Spyglass Hill, as well as some lesser known courses like Cour D’Alene in Idaho.”
    One of the advantages of the Par-T system is that it gives bar owners the option of adding new software like a firearms simulator and other games.
    “This machine is really a huge draw” says DiMase, “golfers can come in during inclement weather and get their weekly game in.”
    As for the success ratio, this concept is relatively new to bars.
    “I can say that here in San Diego, a little sports bar in the basement of the Holiday Inn put in our simulator and immediately saw a $4,000-$5,000 increase in sales each month. Golf is such a popular sport these days that people will seek out facilities to play a round,” DiMase says. Why not make your bar their number one destination?        NCB