Football
Continued from page 23
Bowl party at the store every
year, which includes tons of
prizes and a Blazin’ Challenge®
at halftime.”
For the last three years,
Smith’s Starkville restaurant
has developed an established
reputation of hosting watch
parties for not only MSU football games, but also for other
intercollegiate sports, including
baseball.“During the 2014
football season, the restaurant
hosted watch parties for the
MSU vs. Ole Miss seasonending game, popularly known
as the Battle for the Golden Egg
or the ‘Egg Bowl, and MSU’s
New Year’s Eve Orange Bowl
game against Georgia Tech.
Both events drew capacity
crowds and were designed to
be interactive, featuring MSU
football and bowl game trivia
and other activities where we
awarded prizes and engaged guests in the game excitement,”he
said.
While fans often come to Buffalo Wild Wings for the
game, some franchisees bring Buffalo Wild Wings to the game.
“Through our corporate sponsorships with Montana State and
the University of Montana, I have the amazing opportunity to
go out and tailgate during a few of the games throughout the
season. With our bright BWW tent, Blazin’ Bill mascot and a
game of corn hole going, we have a ton of fun connecting with
fans. We always have B-Dubs® gear for prizes and coupons
to drive traffic back to our stores. And of course, hot wings to
sample,” expressed David Moorhead, director of marketing for
Anderson Management Group.
College vs. Pro
2015 Issue 3 |
THE
SCORE
24
There are those that love any football at all, but others are
strictly devoted to either the NFL or the NCAA. So which fans
make better customers?
“We do better for college games in that we see much more
take-out on Saturdays. We fill up both Saturdays and Sundays,
though we're not on as much of a wait list come mid-season
for the NFL when the reality for some fans settles in that their
teams stand no chance at making the playoffs,” commented
Theiss.
However, some locations in Minnesota have a different
take. Epper reported,“NFL games are more highly followed at
our locations, especially with the popularity of Fantasy Football growing. On average, we host 60 draft parties at our stores
Blazin’ Bill hangs out with some University of Montana cheerleaders during a tailgate sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings.
before the season even begins. The fans come to Buffalo Wild
Wings because they know we carry all the games and they can
watch their Fantasy Football team every Sunday.”
For Smith, college football is more prevalent in their restaurants, but they definitely have a solid NFL fan following. In fact,
the team members in their various restaurants enjoy counting
the number of differing team jerseys and hats being worn by
guests who join them every Sunday for the NFL Sunday Ticket.
Still others see an outpouring of fans for both.