In the heart of the Northern Rivers, Grafton District Services Club is a community hub with a strong focus on entertainment, dining and sports. With a view to increasing the bustling atmosphere of their Sports Bar, the team recently upgraded to the Sportspick GameZone. Like many venues the Services Club enjoyed the convenience of Sportspick’s automated AFL and NRL tipping comps. “We got it to do footy tipping,” said Sports Bar Manager, Michael Sear, “we were originally doing our tipping through software on a PC with manual entries. We got Sportspick to make it a bit easier on the staff.” After the success of their tipping comps the team decided to offer a weekly Sportspick Punters Challenge comp to their Saturday TAB crowd. “Six months after getting Sportspick we decided to try Punters Challenge. We gave $100 on top of the entries to get the dollars up there to start with.” Punters Challenge is a fully automated Saturday afternoon Punters Club style racing comp. Patrons buy a code from the bar to enter and their entry fee goes towards funding a prize pool. All selections are made through the Sportspick GameZone. Results are displayed live throughout the day on the HD scoreboard. The product is designed to increase visitation and spend as well as bring a lively atmosphere to Sports Bars around the country. Upon launching the comp the Grafton District Services Club were inundated with keen punters willing to have a go at the great weekly prize pool. “Our best weekend we had 140 entries. We’ve redistributed about $122,000 in cash prizes from the $5 entry and the $100 we added to the top of it.” said Michael. “You get a good cross section of the serious punters and then those who just want to have a social thing on the side. It’s a good prize pool, for $5 you could jag $600.” Punters Challenge gives both keen regulars and new patrons the opportunity to enjoy promotions within the venue. “Before Melbourne Cup we had a heap of young guys come in and have a crack at it,” said Michael. Punters Challenge is also effective in increasing visitation and spend: “Often our regulars will come in twice. Once to pick up the ticket (which outlines the selected races) and once to come in and make their selections. People are coming in to grab their tickets and once they’re here they generally end up having a beer.” CHECK OUT THE PUNTERS CHALLENGE VIDEO HERE The Grafton Services Club recently upgraded to the Sportspick GameZone which includes a touch screen terminal and a HD screen which displays scoreboards, venue promotions and sports schedules. “With the screen, we can advertise it more and patrons can see it. It’s in a prominent position so patrons can’t miss it. Every time they go to the KENO section or TAB terminal they can see it there. Hopefully having that presence will lead into the promotion of footy tipping and that kind of thing.” As well as

Earlier in the year I wrote an article about my local pub closing down. At the time I was blown away by the outpouring of emotion from members of the community. People were petitioning for the venue to reopen and politicans were getting involved. Everyone hoped for the best and everyone had a story about their favourite times at what was an iconic Australian pub. Things are still up in the air but for the moment the pub is closed, covered in graffiti and virtually abandoned. It still pains me to drive past and see it in it’s current state. CASE STUDY: SPORTSPICK GAMEZONE AT WATERMARK, GLENELG When I wrote my original piece I guessed at exactly how important Aussie pubs were as a community meeting place. Somewhere people could get together to talk, laugh and catch up on good times and bad. Recent research shows that I wasn’t too far from the mark. According to Dr Peter Jonason, a social personality psychologist from the University of Western Sydney, those who spend regular time at their local are more trusting and satisfied with life. These patrons have better support bases and deeper friendships than those without a regular pub or club and identify more closely with their community. These findings are backed by earlier findings in Britain by Dr Robin Dubnar. Dr Jonason’s study pointed out that a local was especially important for men, being one of the rare places they get together for intimate conversations. The report stated that these conversations were “likely essential to maintaining their psychological health and sense of connectedness to the community.” GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR LIVE SPORTS OFFERING The study also pointed out that “having a local is associated with more life satisfaction, greater overlap with one’s community, and more interpersonal trust.” It concluded: “There is a long and honoured tradition in Australia for going down to the ‘local’ bar for a drink to socialise and relax with friends. “Arguably the motivation for most patrons of locals is not to abuse alcohol, but instead, to seek out social support.” This study just reinforces the core belief that many of us in the hospitality industry hold. That is that pubs and clubs are more than just a place to grab a cold beer and watch some sport on the big screen. Our venues are places where we meet with friends and family and develop stronger bonds with each other. It’s a great blessing and an important responsibility for all of us in the industry. Keep it in mind next time you welcome new patrons into your venue!

CLICK HERE FOR CASE STUDY: PUNTERS CHALLENGE AT GRAFTON DISTRICT SERVICES CLUB Glenelg’s iconic Watermark Hotel is well known for being an exciting and innovative part of South Australia’s bustling hospitality industry. Sitting on the foreshore of a popular seaside destination it’s a favourite of locals and tourists alike. As part of its proactive approach to customer engagement and promotion the venue was the first in SA to install a Sportspick GameZone. The Sportspick GameZone is an end to end sports bar marketing tool and according to the Watermarks Sports Bar manager, Dave MacDonald, it’s proven to be a revelation. “As soon as the GameZone was introduced we snapped it up, it was so professional,” said Dave. The GameZone combines Sportspick’s huge range of sports tipping and racing comps with the Game On live sports scheduling and promotion tool. The result is an engaging and eye catching unit which is revitalising sports bars around the country. “I’m very proactive with Sportspick tipping competitions,” says MacDonald, “we do AFL, every race tipping comp, and I’m running NFL and EPL.” FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SPORTSPICK GAMEZONE HERE Sportspick has added to the traditional AFL and NRL tipping with a huge range of sports tipping comps catering to sports fans of ages. “In the NFL comp I’ve got fifteen blokes playing. They threw in $20 for a winner take all in house comp, plus they’re competing nationally as well. A lot of people are attracted to the national prize money. Our guy leading the NFL was so excited, he checked the leaderboard and saw he was ninth in Australia!” On Saturday afternoon racing fans can stick around for a drink and a punt while taking part in the Punters Challenge or Triple Crown race tipping comps. “I’m averaging between 20 and 35 people playing (Punters Challenge) each week,” said Dave, “I get everyone who walks in the door. I let them know we’ve got this exciting comp running and most people say, “yeah, I’ll have a go.” Like most venue staff using the Sportspick GameZone Dave has engaged with the convenience of having automated venue offers and live sports promotions. “We were very interested in the in-house advertising it provided. It’s so much easier, absolutely. It’s saving me time in promoting events.” “I like the fact the system is attuned to what we’re presenting. It picked up that we had the Horn Mundine fight and it automatically promotes it.” And while the GameZone removes the hassles from running tipping comps and venue and sports promotion, it’s real strength is in the way patrons return to engage with it on a daily basis. “They’ve embraced it,” says Dave on new and existing patrons who have utilised the Sportspick GameZone, “we’ve picked up a few customers in the last few months who liked it and participated in the competitions. It’s a contributing factor in them coming back.” Watch here as Brayden Haynes explains how Sportspick GameZone attracts sports fans, and keeps them coming back.  Like

As a Full House Group Venue Relationship Manager I spend most of my time working with venues to engage new and existing patrons with effective entertainment solutions. This includes poker and trivia events as well as sports tipping and promotion. These events and promotions have an immediate effect on visitation and spend within venues. They are effective in drawing new patrons to venues as well as reinvigorating the enthusiasm of existing patrons. Venues will see similar results caused by other investments such as renovations or the upgrade of dining offers or sports broadcasts. Big changes and promotions have a big impact. But, as I am beginning to notice, little changes can also have a big impact. As the year closes out you are probably not thinking much about making any major changes prior to Christmas. But there are hundreds of things you can do without investing time or more. These things can have a huge impact and set you up for a big 2019. THE SPORTS BAR MARKETING REVOLUTION A few of the little things I have noticed having a big impact are: Patron greetings Some of the best venues I work with do this really well. Their patrons are friends first and foremost and customers second. Good staff learn names and find out about peoples jobs, sports teams and families. They endeavour to get to know new faces. It pays off huge dividends when patrons feel like they are welcomed as part of the group rather than just a customer. Table service during poker and trivia This is another zero cost initiative that some venues are putting to use. Poker and trivia players are generally caught up in play. Coming out during play to take drinks order means your bar will tick over and patrons will be thrilled with the effort. Cross promotion Venues are very diverse these days. With band rooms, bistros, sports bars and lounges it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Lots of patrons get comfortable in their favourite area of your venue and are left unaware of what else is happening. Keep patrons in the loop by cross promoting events, meal offers and specials throughout your venue. Engaged staff This is the easiest and most effective way to boost the atmosphere at your venue. Give thought about what you can do to further engage your staff and keep them motivated and upbeat. The difference between engaged and disengaged staff is night and day and it has a huge impact on the experience of your patrons. Good luck in putting some of these ideas into practise. I’m sure you will come up with plenty of your own. I hope they are effective in making a positive impact at your venue.