While business at many neighborhood bars has yet to recover fully from the pandemic, some are benefiting from the new reality – and it’s playing on their TVs. While many local hangouts used to rely heavily on sports to get large groups of patrons through their doors, reality TV has been providing an unlikely boost to business in a similar way.
Restaurants and bars have been using the popularity of shows like “Love Island” and “The Bachelor” to their advantage by introducing watch parties, seasonal items, and interactive games, and customers are enthusiastically embracing the new options.
Building new communities
The Thunderbird Lounge Bar in the Melrose district of Phoenix, Arizona, is a 70s-inspired LGBTQ+ neighborhood bar popular for its unique events and sense of community. One of the owners, Jeremiah Gratza, explained that he wanted a space that was tied to his family.
“When I was looking for space for my next concept, I wanted it to be in the neighborhood that I lived in,” said Gratza. “I have a gay brother, and all of the businesses in Melrose are either LGBTQ+ owned or operated like us, and we are an ally bar. That was something that was important to me.”
Gratza discussed how the trend of watch parties has furthered his purpose of building a community within his neighborhood bar.
“We try to serve our neighborhood,” said Gratza. “We’ve never really been that bar that shows different sports games, so we wanted to find something that was unique to us and our neighborhood and our audience.”
The owners found that “Love Island USA” fit perfectly within their targeted audience and helped them build a new community in their space. While their space is not a sports bar, it works to evoke a similar feeling to one. Customers rally up together in their space to cheer on their favorite islander or bond over the drama happening within the show.
“People like to go to a sports bar and watch it with other fans and be a part of the excitement and see it live as it’s happening,” said Gratza. “I feel it’s the same thing with Love Island or The Bachelor, or RuPaul, you’re watching it live and there’s a community who gets behind it.”
“Love Island USA” watch parties are not the only events that the Thunderbird Lounge Bar hosts for its community. The space hosts free events every day of the week, from Mexican Bingo to Karaoke nights, in an effort to create a space for everyone to enjoy.
“People have their work and their work colleagues, and I think that everyone kind of needs a third space where you can go and congregate and celebrate birthdays and weddings and anniversaries and graduations, that’s outside of work at home,” said Gratza. “And that’s what we strive to be.”
Creating new opportunities
Ty Goossen, a general manager at The Hot Chick, a game bar and nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona, explained that their brand revolves around being at the forefront of pop culture. When deciding what events to host, they consider what will generate the most business and what their community could potentially want.
Having “Love Island USA” watch parties fit both of those requirements, and even though they took a risk, it ended up being significantly successful for their business.
“I didn’t think it would be as successful as it was, and sometimes you just have to be willing to pull the trigger on some of these things,” said Goossen
The watch parties gained so much traction for customers that they would have their space booked on Thursday nights as if it were a Saturday night.
“We have people with 30 to 40 reservations that can’t get booked because we’re already booked out,” said Goossen. “It’s impacted our business in a huge way. Love Island has been the biggest draw that we possibly could get.”
Goossen also explained how these events brought in a different demographic of customers to its space.
“It brought in a younger crowd too, because usually our crowd demographics are anywhere from about 23 years old to 40, but it brought in a lot of 21-year-olds as well,” said Goossen.
Their watch parties did not just gain traction amongst their customers, but also for partnerships. Goossen explained that their popularity caught the eye of the Peacock network.
“They reached out to us and sent us some official merchandise. I signed a contract where we’re an official screening partner with them, so we’re actually able to use and license some of their stuff,” said Goossen.
Crafting a new experience
Audrey Love, the social media and events manager at Lola Bar, a cocktail lab and eatery in Glendale, Arizona, said the popularity of their Love Island watch parties changed their approach to events.
“It had us popping off on a Thursday night, and I’d say there were a lot of people coming in,” said Love. “We did themed games, so there was even more of an incentive for them to come into our business specifically.”
These games included a themed cocktail wheel that customers were able to spin to win a themed cocktail. The themed cocktails included “Hurricane Huda,” inspired by one of the Love Islanders on the show, Huda Mustafa, and “Bombshell Blitz,” utilizing the lingo of the show for a fun drink. They also had a “Who said it?” game where customers could guess which islander said what line. Providing plenty of options for their customers and ensuring that it is interactive for them as well.
Love said these types of events resonate with customers because they’re able to watch the show without having to pay for a streaming service subscription and also have a good time with their friends.
“They get to be in a community where other people are also interested in this story,” said Love. “We should be able to watch Love Island as girls like how boys watch football and basketball games.”
