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.