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SELLING SPORT: MORE THAN A NORMAL TRADE DAY
More than a normal trade day
Sport has always been a big draw card for pubs, but as equipment improves and new sports emerge, are you maximising your sporting potential?
-By Andy Young.
SPORT HAS always been a big drawcard for pubs, with venues having the ability to offer fans something more sociable and enjoyable than staying at home to watch the match.
But it can be an expensive business installing the right equipment, subscribing and showing sporting occasions, and with the pandemic still fresh in the mind it is easy to focus more on tightening belts than investing in long-term potential.
Many Australians love sport, and having been denied the opportunity to share sport with friends for so long, the draw of the pub is possibly even stronger than it was pre-pandemic, as Matthew Moore of the Landmark Bar in Darwin explained to Australian Hotelier
The Landmark in the Northern Territory was packed to capacity for the recent UFC event held in Perth
“[It does] depend on the sporting event, but yes we tend to see a direct positive correlation between sales and sporting events/major sporting events,” Moore explained.
“Good examples of this are State of Origin, Grand Final weekends and becoming more popular UFC Sundays. For instance a Wednesday/Sunday State of Origin we have the potential to double our normal days trade.”
UFC is also fast becoming a hugely popular sport with Australian punters, and Moore said the recent UFC 284, which took place in Perth, “was a great day for our venue”.
He added: “We had a good turn out with the beer garden near capacity. We offered our upstairs balcony area overlooking the beer garden and great view of the NT’s largest outdoor screen. This UFC had a lot of hype around it with it being in Perth and also the main card being an Australian with the chance to win another belt.”
-Sean Fawsitt, Great Northern Hotel
Sean Fawsitt, from the Great Northern Hotel in Melbourne, agrees that recent sporting events have proved very popular.
“As a pub that is passionate about live sports, we strive to provide our guests with a quality experience. The recent Super Bowl and UFC were both fully booked. Interest in NFL and UFC at the Northern has steadily grown over the past 13 years,” Fawsitt said.
THE RIGHT KIT
Fawsitt added that it’s important to make sure you are giving customers a reason to come to your venue: “The old adage ‘if you build it, they will come’ still holds true. We try to be ahead of the curve when it comes to audio visual systems as we believe our guests appreciate the difference. As the world of televised live sports is moving digital, it’s important that our offering reflects that.
Big matches bring the crowds into the Great Northern Hotel
“We have invested in the latest projectors and screens, and we are in the process of installing a custom AV system to ensure we are well placed to keep up with AV improvements into the future.”
As well as the technical kit, it is also important to make sure you have the right food and beverage offering available. A recent CGA Opus Survey highlighted that last year’s footy finals were a big driver for beer sales, and Moore said this was also true for many of the events the Landmark shows.
“Yes, we have found that beer is the leading seller during footy finals. But also for most sporting events we hold fight night – UFC, cricket and tennis – beer is the leading category,” Moore said.
He added: “Food and drink specials again are very important for the overall patron experience. A promotion we have had success with is a footy feast box and beer tower. This is a platter made up of burgers, fries, wedges, wings and a three-litre tower of beer. All foods that are easily shared within a social/group environment.”
With UFC on the rise, footy season around the corner plus the Rugby World Cup, boxing and Bledisloe Cup on the horizon, it is a key time to remember the huge draw that is sport in Australia, and make sure you and your venue are absolutely ready to maximise its huge potential.
