The SCORE 2015 Issue 3 | Page 25

marketing manager Jen Epper. Roger Smith of Bulldog BWW has two restaurants in the hometown of Southeastern Conference schools: Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi. The restaurant in Starkville, Mississippi, is located within walking distance from Mississippi State stadium. The restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi, is located just over a mile from the University of Mississippi campus. Smith commented that both restaurants see a tremendous increase in business during football season.“Not only is traffic heavy in the restaurants before and after MSU and Ole Miss football games, they also are usually filled to capacity with fans who come to watch the games and cheer on the Bulldogs or Rebels,” he said. Franchisee Eric Valera capitalizes on the location of his restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina, home to Eastern Carolina University, with targeted advertising to a captive audience. “We are a halftime sponsor for the home ECU games and have our commercial running on the big scoreboard for entire Ficklen Stadium to see.” In addition, Valera says Buffalo Wild Wings bring something to the table that other bars and restaurants don’t.“Ours was the first and is still the only in our market to show college games shown via internet only, i.e. ESPN.GO.com, which gives us the exclusive in our markets. Guests calling in reservations on these days start when the manager arrives to open.” For the fans > A brave fan takes on the Blazin’ Challenge during a Super Bowl party hosted by the Mankato, Minnesota Buffalo Wild Wings. 23 SCORE | 2015 Issue 3 get along and feed off each other’s excitement. The store's assistant general manager, Dan Miller, is also an Auburn alum, so he interacts well with both fan groups in different ways.” Epper commented that Two Joe’s also has a devout group of fans who have flocked to their Buffalo Wild Wings for many years.“We have a strong Vikings following at our Mankato location and one group of about 12-15 people have been watching all the games at our location for 20 years! We host a large Super Continued on page 24 THE When fans can’t be at a game in person, one of the next best things is gathering with fellow fans elsewhere. Many restaurants hold game-watching parties for specific schools, some for alumni groups of out-of-state colleges and universities. For example, BWW Southern Management Inc.’s Fort Walton Beach, Florida, restaurant is home to the local Ohio State University Alumni Association.“They've been with us for five years now. We've allowed the OSU alums to put up a lot of their own decor and memorabilia in the bar area. This rubs some of the SEC and ACC fans the wrong way, but they still come in droves,”said Theiss. “The Panama store is home to both Alabama and Auburn fan groups who are with us every Saturday during college football season. They have been for six of the seven years the store's been open. It makes for some exciting and interesting in-store atmosphere,”Theiss continued.“Fortunately the two rival groups ^ Servers at one of Two Joe’s Minnesota locations join the guests in sporting gear in support of their favorite team.