Buffalo Wild Wings Effectively Orphans Its Own Bowl Game

Submitted by User -not THAT user on

Oh, the indignity...

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2013/12/28/5252410/cant-watch-buffalo-wild-wings-bowl-at-buffalo-wild-wings

And that is probably about as fitting an end to this football season as I could possibly come up with that didn't involve a contract extension for the entire coaching staff.

Did anyone try to actually go to a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game?  If we didn't have two kids in diapers it was probably something the wife and I would have done, expecting some kind of discount promo special if you showed up wearing team gear for one of the participating schools.

Apparently not only was such an obvious offer not available, the actual game itself was downgraded significantly at restaurants nationwide.

I understand that there was a Joe Theismann-esque leg breaking in one of the fights, though...so at least you got to see that on the big screen.

 

cozy200

December 29th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^

Was great. We had a table for 20, they added tables for us and the game was on big tvs as well as the fight. Football game sound was on most of the time save for the rousey fight (during halftime). Can't say enough good about that place and the staff.



With that said, not surprised areas outside of Michigan chose the fight first.

Kinda Blue

December 29th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^

I actually went to the BWW Bowl last night. We took our young kids so we left early enough to get home by 11 pm AZ time and we happened to catch the start of the evening SportCenter. There were four bowl games yesterday and some top ten basketball match ups. ESPN led SportCenter with the UFC fight.



I think that says a lot about where UFC has come from and where it's headed. It's a demographics and advertising revenue thing and it does very well at that thing.

I dumped the Dope

December 29th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^

UFC = almost all men = drinking beers the entire time

Football = food and a few beers = mix of men and women = lounging at the table for 4 hours

It is strange from a commonsense standpoint, and awkward for sure, but I would bet a new set of tires they have the data to back it up inside their restaurants that UFC is a moneymaker due to the high alcohol sales.  Likely they will not lose any business in the future due to not playing the BWW bowl.  It was in a weird time slot anyway and they may have anticipated early exit blowout doom from Michigan fans after the news of Gardner's foot got out.

ljcblue

December 29th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^

Hubby and I actually went to our one and only local BWW to try to watch the game. We hadn't been there in over a year as we have a host of other options for sandwiches, pizza and wings that are much closer and less expensive. I was wearing a Michigan hat/sweatshirt because we actually EXPECTED that they would be offering some sort of discount or other promotion to fans affiliated with the teams playing in the company's Own Damn Bowl Game, but the hosts/servers were totally clueless. We were told the wait for a table would be over an hour and the game would not be featured, but they might be able to seat us near the one television that was running the BWW Bowl. We left and found another place to spend our money.

We don't live in Michigan; we're in the Northeast, but there are more than enough UM fans around here. The local alumni club gathers for every football and most basketball and hockey games at a different and much better sports bar that is closer to where we live. Our sole reason for driving to BWW was that we thought we would be at a place that would feature the game we wanted to see and that because we were there specifically to see their game, we wouldn't be shunted to the side in favor of a fight we had no interest in. If I were the head of marketing at BWW, I look at this as a counter-marketing opportunity; everyone's looking at the fight, so how do we distinguish our watering hole from every other? Oh, wait, we
have a built-in hook that we can exploit to maybe grab some new customers who have a vested interest in watching the game we're sponsoring? That makes too much sense; instead let's treat those people like non-entities.

Ideally, BWW should have promoted their own game nationally with announced discounts, etc., for
alumni/fans of the teams playing. God knows there wasn't much other reason for anyone else to watch
this bowl; why not cater to the fan bases of the teams playing? But at the very least, a memo should have gone out from corporate to every franchise that if potential customers walk in wearing Michigan (or for that
matter Kansas State) regalia, treat those people like they matter. Move heaven and earth to get them a
Table, get the damn football game on a prominent screen, turn up the sound so they can hear, and offer them some kind of discount or other promotion, e.g., free appetizer/dessert; free beer/soft drink when their team scores a TD, 10% discount off total bill).

What a lost opportunity. BWW should remember that the restaurant/food service industry is notoriously
fickle - they may be riding high right now, but there will almost certainly come a tme when another
business will threaten or supplant theirs, and customer loyalty or lack thereof may make the difference in their chances for survival.

Oh, and also...my husband's from Buffalo, and let's just say....you're coming close to false advertising in calling those things "Buffalo" wings.

ljcblue

December 29th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

I didn't catch it the first time through, but am I reading tnat sign illustrated in the article correctly -if you wanted to bring your minor children with you to watch the Bowl, you couldn't because for some reason the entire restaurant was off-limits to anyone under 21? Or, let's just say you're a U-M student home on break, and you wanted to get together with your buddies to watch the Bowl, if any of you are under 21, you couldn't? Wow.

I don't know anything about UFC, so forgive me my ignorance, but what would be so special about this fight that would require closing the whole restaurant to minors? Was this a local policy or was it national? Way to be family-friendly and establish your business as the place to be because "the game is on!" Good job all around, BWW!

MGoBender

December 29th, 2013 at 6:25 PM ^

BWW is the place to watch UFC.  Remember that UFC is pay-per-view.  People have to go somewhere to watch it and that place is BWW.  This should be pretty well known by anyone who frequents sports bars.

UFC nights are bigger than NFL sundays... by far.

Finance-PhD

December 29th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

How would giving away food or drinks in any way led to making as much money as the UFC event? Remove the Maize glasses and imagine it was two other teams that everyone expected to result in a blow out. Instead you can focus on the event that you know will pack the joint.



Being a smart businessman includes knowing when to move on. The bowl was a sunk cost so there is no reason to kill the business just to prove how bull headed you can be. That is like running up the middle 27 times when it isn't working.

chrs5mr

December 29th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^

I also agree w Finance-phD.

To your point: yes they should have done a better job promoting their own event.  They could have easily split the bar area in 2: one side all tables and TVs dedicated to the football game and the other to UFC.  All locations in Kansas and Michigan would have audio to the game for the teams playing in the game (I know you weren't in MI so that part wouldn't help you).

To Finance-phD's point:  they already sunk in millions of dollars, so adding discounts, etc. would have cost them even more.  Buffalo Wild Wings put in about $2 mil and then costs for ads.  They got their brand out there nationally, which is all they wanted and weren't going to do anything more.  From last year:  http://www.sponsorship.com/Sponsorship-Consulting/Focus-on-College-Football-Bowl-Games--IEG-Research/What-s-in-a-Name--$99-Million-for-Bowl-Game-Title.aspx

I'm not sure if this still applies but when I worked in a bar, the rules on the pay per view events was your capacity times the cost of the event.  The fights are usually about $60 so you're looking at $45k for a 750 capacity bar.

MGlobules

December 29th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^

and we all know it. People killing each other for the edification of a frustrated working class is a much bigger draw and we all know it. When public executions become a little more campy--THEN BWW is going to become the Apple Computer of America. 

Michigan football may be in the toilet, but American cultural life has at least a two-step head start. 

mgoaggie

December 29th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^

I called them before-hand and asked what their plan was for showing the game, they said that the biggest screens and sound would all have the UFC fight on them. I stayed home and didn't eat wings, sadly.

JTGoBlue

December 29th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^

I got to the BWW in Canton at 8:30, and the place was packed with UFC fans. Was told 1 hour for a table, and gave up at 10:00. I called beforehand and asked if the game audio would be on and was told yes, but didn't stick around.

LSAClassOf2000

December 29th, 2013 at 11:26 AM ^

Man, first the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl ran short of pizza, and now the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl gets snubbed by its own sponsor. When it was the Copper Bowl, was there a problem at the stadium in obtaining tastefully rustic cookware as well? You would think you would stick by something in which you have invested many millions and perhaps make something which passes for an effort to market it as well - I don't think there were any bowl-related offers in the Detroit area. 

AMazinBlue

December 29th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^

both sucked.  Both fights were over in 2-3 rounds. The Silva match ended ugly I guess.  The bowl game was a yawner and UM never showed up, much like the fans that DIDN'T go to BWW.

UFC fans are probablygonna buy more, drink more and party harder than football fans.  So I get that, but to down play your own corporately sponsored event is bad PR and marketing.  Just sayin'.

BlueinOK

December 29th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^

This doesn't surprise me at all. B-dubs is going to make more money showing the fights than its own bowl game. How poor is the planning though to have both events at the same time? It's literally the only bowl game going on during UFC...

NittanyFan

December 29th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

I wanted to watch both events, and was happy that I was able to do so.

 

TVs were 50/50 split between UFC and the Michigan game.  Audio was for the Michigan game until the very last UFC fight --- at which point K-State led 21-6 (which, no offense, may as well have been a 2100-6 lead, not many people were feeling a comeback).

 

BWW does pretty well on the UFC PPV nights --- and those come around about every 5 weeks or so.  Honestly a good move for them to prioritize that over a mid-tier Bowl game (IMO).

Don

December 29th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^

Jim Delaney and his fellow alleged geniuses leading the Big Ten agreed to affiliate the conference with a bowl sponsor that won't even prioritize the bowl game it sponsors. Excellent planning. Makes perfect sense that you'd agree to an arrangement that gives the BWW their choice of teams ahead of the Gator Bowl.

TheTruth41

December 29th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^

My neighbor heads the Nashville chapter for the Nebraska alumni association. They have a pretty big group on Saturdays. As much as a couple hundred can show up for a game. The local BWW screwed her over with reserving for gamedays several times and now avoids them at all costs. This was after negotiating as their home viewing location for the season. She had to go pretty high up in their organization to get any sort of rational answers. I sent her this link. She just laughed and said it figures.