Sports bars: How they compete in Stadium Village

Story and photos by Khalid Mohamed / The Hubbard School

For Stadium Village restaurants, summer is the lull before the storm. Mason Boelter, who manages Buffalo Wild Wings, says the majority of his business is takeout and delivery during the summer. 

But when sports start in fall, more people dine in, Boleter said, and business becomes more competitive. “Every day seems to be a different monster in itself,” Boelter said of the demands that the campus sports impose on the restaurant. 

To compete, sports bars and restaurants in Stadium Village have developed their own game plans to distinguish themselves. Here’s are some areas they need to consider: 

Marketing 

Cait Heineman, a server and bartender at Stub and Herbs in Stadium Village, said the long-established bar doesn’t need to do much marketing because their restaurant is so well known.

“We kind of rely more on word of mouth because Stub and Herbs has been here for so long where the people that come here are the same people that have been coming here,” Heineman said. “We also do tailgating in the parking lot and we’ll post that on our Facebook and Twitter.”

For Buffalo Wild Wings in Stadium Village, marketing is geared heavily toward students and athletes. Boelter said the store collaborates with groups on campus to promote business.

“The corporate side really gets involved with student athletes,” Boelter said. “For our personal store, we get involved with some of the fraternities on campus that have relationships with people in the sports community. We also do a radio show here for the Gopher basketball team every Tuesday.”

Deals

Another tactic that brings in customers are deals on meals or appetizers, which focus on individual demographics as they compete to bring in the most business. 

Heineman, who is a student at the university, said deals are not designed for party-seeking college students. Compared to other sports bars, she said, Stub and Herbs has a clean and sophisticated environment that discourages underage drinkers.

“We have an older clientele that promotes a different environment,” Heineman said. “You come here, you sit down, maybe have a couple of appetizers and you chat with your friends.”

Stub and Herbs has daily happy hour and food deals every day of the week. They also offer discounts on special drinks on occasion during the hockey season.

Buffalo Wild Wings also offers many deals on food and drinks, Boelter said. The restaurant changes those deals but keeps prices steady so customers keep coming back, he said.

“We have a ‘pick-six’ menu, which is two pops, two entrees, and two sides for $20,” Boelter said. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have discounts on boneless and traditional wings, our happy hour menu has been revamped. BDubs is very in tune on when to adjust.”

Crowd management

Managing the flow of customers can make or break a restaurant’s ability to compete during a busy sports season. Boelter said Buffalo Wild Wings offers consistency in managing those rushes. 

“We can expect the volume and we’re prepared for the volume of fans, so when people come in 20 and 30 at a time, we’re knowing what the crowds are gonna look like and how to handle the crowd,“ Boelter said. “Our consistency with the rushes and volume during the games leads people to keep coming back.”

Boelter, an avid sports fan, compared the rush of students to nonstop mini fires, and said that the restaurant prepares by scheduling as many staff as possible.

“When the sports season starts, it’s all hands on deck, as many people as we can on the clock and working,” Boelter said. “Definitely two different businesses in the summer, and then into the school year.”

Heineman said that football brings in the most business to Stub and Herbs, requiring mental and physical preparation by staff for the season. 

“We make sure we have enough employees on hand because we require a lot of people to be working during the sports season,” Heineman said. “To prepare mentally, we usually have a staff get together, so that we can celebrate the end of summer and kind of ramp up energy for the season.”

Sports season savviness

Knowing the rhythm of the sports seasons is also critical. Boelter said that hockey and basketball bring in the most business for Buffalo Wild Wings, which is located next to the 3M Arena at Mariucci and Ridder Arena, where the Gophers men’s and women’s ice hockey teams play. Boelter also said the staff plans only after viewing game schedules.

“Hockey games sell out every home game and we get pretty busy three hours beforehand and an hour after,” Boelter said. “Any of the male or female sports that are on campus, we know when all the home games are.”

Heineman, who keeps up with sports for her job, said that Stub and Herbs will show any Gopher game on TV. She also said that Stub and Herbs follows Minneapolis sports teams like the Twins and Timberwolves.

“It does correlate with my job and how busy it gets, and I also like to know what teams that we’re playing so I can prepare for my job,” Heineman said. “I have to know when we’re winning, when we’re losing, if we’re doing good.”