Local restaurants overcome trend of lost revenue from Super Bowl Sunday

PRINCE GEORGE – The Kansas City Chiefs are still celebrating their Super Bowl victory from this past Sunday, and with Numeris reporting nearly 18.7 million unique Canadian viewers, surely local restaurants and bars saw increased profits from the NFL’s biggest day too.

However, a local marketing expert says otherwise doesn’t think that’s always the case. In fact, he explains why some restaurants, including some sports bars, may actually experience a loss in revenue on Super Sunday.

“Normally, in the time that the Super Bowl would play for, a bar or a restaurant would be able to turn over two different seatings for tables. But here, people are coming for the entire event, they’re taking up the space that the bar or restaurant has, and they’re not moving until the game is over,” said Charles Scott, a marketing lecturer at UNBC. “Yes, they’ll order some drinks and they’ll order some wings, appetizers, and whatever else they’re in the mood for, but it’s not the same as a full meal that you could turn over twice.”

According to data collected by Wombly, a software company, restaurants experience a 14 per cent drop on Super Bowl versus their average day of business. Sports bars don’t typically see as much of a drop off in revenue, with a reported 8 per cent drop compared to an average Sunday of service while still remaining profitable versus the typical day. While the survey is limited to bars and restaurants across the United States, similar impacts can and have been felt in Canada.