A dating show made sales at sports haven Tom's Watch Bar spike nearly 900%
Despite being known as a haven for sports fans, events centered on the reality television series — known for drama-filled dating antics in the "Love Island" villa — were among the most popular events hosted this summer.
Tom's Watch Bar is a chain of 16 screen-filled restobars that cater primarily to sports fans, cofounded by industry icon and food scientist Tom Ryan and former Quiznos CEO Rick Schaden.
Last November, Ryan and Schaden named Brooks Schaden, Rick's cousin, and Shannon McNiel co-CEOs to succeed them in leading the company. And the new leadership may have found new soul ties with its latest promotion geared at reality TV lovers.
The very first "Love Island" event, held on a steamy Monday evening earlier this summer in Sacramento, drove a nearly 900% rise in sales during the otherwise slow sports season, with hundreds of people lined up to watch, Schaden told Business Insider.
"Normally we'll do a couple thousand dollars in sales — there's just not much going on in the summer at that property," Schaden said. But with its flagship "Love Island" watch party, he added that the store made $30,000 in sales in a single night. "So it was a massive, massive increase."
Normally, big-ticket events at Tom's Watch Bar are football and baseball games, soccer matches, and UFC fights. But fans can be fickle and hard to predict, so the chain is susceptible to big fluctuations in foot traffic. Schaden said that during opening baseball week for the Rockies, the Denver location made $2,000 on Wednesday and $220,000 that Friday.
Being prepared for wild swings in customer demand turned out to be a superpower when the "Love Island" events started, Schaden said. Tom's Watch Bar was able to roll out regular watch parties for the show, which airs new episodes multiple times a week, at all of its locations for the rest of the summer.
Schaden said the dating show's watch parties, featuring commercial-break entertainment by local DJs and influencers, were consistently attended more than most other summer events. Cast member Kenzo Nudo attended the Vegas location for the dating show's season finale, as did family members of cast member Chris Seeley in Los Angeles.
On "Love Island" nights, the chain's lavender lemon drop martinis surged to become its No. 1 selling item — rather than the typical beer and wings usually topping the sales charts.
"That week leading up to the finale, we've got pictures and videos of our places just packed with 'Love Island' fans and cheering and crying," Schaden told Business Insider.
He added: "It was quite a shock to us, but I think our biggest takeaway was, it's the same way people are with sports: people want to connect with other enthusiasts of whatever it might be, and we want to provide a place for them all to get together and cheer and laugh and cry and whatever else might go along with it."
Banking on the success of the "Love Island" parties, Schaden said Tom's Watch Bar is now looking to engage with other groups of enthusiasts at their own watch party events. Think slap fighting, dog surfing, or other reality TV smash hits.
Perhaps " 90 Day Fiance" fans will soon rejoice.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Washington Post
The summer bikinis got smaller
Did bikini bottoms get smaller this summer? The short answer? Yes. (Get it? 'Short'?) You may have noticed it on swimwear-heavy TV such as 'Bachelor in Paradise' and 'Love Island,' where the cheekies got cheekier and the number of thongs crept up. (Get it? 'Crept up'?)
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Chili's is back, thanks to its viral mozzarella sticks: Once-flailing chain is building new restaurants again
Chili's is good now, apparently! Not that Chili's was ever bad. The restaurant enjoyed — or perhaps was burdened with — the image of a reliable, though not remarkable, casual dining spot. Good in a pinch, but not necessarily an outing you'd mark on a calendar. Now, the restaurant chain is reportedly on the rise, thanks largely due to huge dollars poured into its marketing budget, viral sucess and the simplification of its menu. It topped its revenue and profit estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter, according to Kevin Hochman, the CEO of its parent company, Brinker. He made the comments during an earnings call on Wednesday, Business Insider reports. "Chili's is officially back, baby back," Hochman said, throwing back to the ever-present "baby back ribs" commercials of the mid-to-late 1990's. Hochman said the chain's recent successes — its comparable restaurant sales grew by 24 percent, which was two percent over analyst's expectations, and Brinker's overall revenue hit $1.46 billion — are thanks in part to a revamped menu that focuses on fewer, better offerings that still keep in line with the brand's imaging. He noted that the return of the chain's famous ribs was a win with customers. "Customers are raving about the look, the size, and the taste of the ribs," Hochman said. "It's clear we have a winning product with our new ribs, and our intent now is to use them to drive traffic." Brinker has only been steering the Chili's ship for three years, and it appears its marketing strategies are paying off. The restaurant went viral on TikTok thanks to videos showing off the stretchiness of its new mozzarella sticks. The videos pulled in more than 200 million views on the platform. The restaurants' "Triple Dipper" appetizer platter — which includes the cheese sticks — has become the hot item to have for the Chili's converts and faithful. Chili's recent successes are such that the chain is looking to open new locations and revamp old ones — starting with a quartet of Dallas storefronts — to align with its new image, according to Bloomberg. 'I can't tell you how much of a surprise Chili's performance has been within the industry,' Jonathan Maze, the editor-in-chief of Restaurant Magazine, told Slate. He said the chain's turnaround was "shocking." Hochman isn't necessarily surprised as he knows how much money went into the marketing revamp; according to the CEO, Chili's marketing budget was boosted from $32 million in FY 2022 to $137 million in 2025. "We are a much different Chili's today than we were three years ago," Hochman said. Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Virgin dating series 'Are You My First?' hasn't even premiered yet, but is already flooded with applicants for Season 2
They're making the best 'laid' plans. The new virgin dating series 'Are You My First?' hasn't even premiered yet, but celibate singles are already hoping the show gets renewed for a second season — so they can lose their innocence on national television. 'I have never had so many virgins sliding into my DMs … But I will say this, if and when Season 2 happens, we will have a wide variety of virgins flocking to the show,' its co-host, former 'Bachelor' Colton Underwood, told The Post ahead of its Aug. 18 premiere. 'I've also received a lot of friends nominating people. And then when you click on their profile, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, they would be good.' I definitely have a list of screenshots and saves for Season 2 for casting.' The Hulu series, which was created by the producers of 'Love Island,' follows 21 virgins — ranging in age from 24 to 34 — on their quest to lose their v-cards. 5 Colton Underwood and Kaitlyn Bristowe are the hosts of the new virgin dating show 'Are You My First?' on Hulu. Disney Underwood's co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe, who starred as 'The Bachelorette' in 2015, faced backlash for being the first leading lady to speak openly about having sex — admitting she did the deed with more than one contestant. The 40-year-old Canadian native said the terrible way she was treated back then has helped her sympathize with the virgins. 'It gave me a bit more empathy for people who chose not to have sex because I was like, 'Well, who am I to judge those people seeing how badly I got judged?'' she said. 5 On her 'Bachelorette' season in 2015, Bristowe got engaged to Shawn Booth. Underwood, who starred as 'Bachelor' in 2019, dated Cassie Randolph. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Bristowe found it surreal to see the virgins so reserved when it came to kissing — with one of the contestants, 28-year-old Katya, a theatre artist from Manhattan, going so far as to tell the man she was interested in he'd have to 'earn' her smooch. 'I was thinking of my night one as 'The Bachelorette.' And that was like child's play to me because I was like, 'I'm gonna make out with as many as I can and see who I have chemistry with.'' Bristowe, who got engaged to personal trainer Shawn Booth on 'The Bachelorette' and dated him for three years before their split in 2018, said it was refreshing to witness the cast's 'intentional' approach to courtship. 'We are so used to the craziness that we see on usual reality TV shows with dating where I'm like almost uncomfy, where this is like a sweeter, softer version,' she said. 'It's also crazy that we see somebody have their first kiss on camera ever. That's wild to me.' 5 'Are You My First?' features 21 virgins from around the country, ranging in age from 24 to 34. Disney Underwood, 33, starred as 'The Bachelor' in 2019, and at the time, he was a virgin. The Indiana native ended up dating contestant Cassie Randolph, a speech pathologist, for almost two years — and when they split, he confessed he was gay. 'Mine is a very complex story that America now knows,' he said. 'I think that when people watch this show, they're really going to understand there's so many reasons that people decide not to lose their virginity at a young age.' 5 'I think that when people watch this show, they're really going to understand there's so many reasons that people decide not to lose their virginity at a young age,' Underwood said about the 'Are You My First?' contestants, several of whom cited religion. Disney Several of the 'Are You My First?' contestants — many of whom are Mormon — revealed their religion was preventing them from giving it up. 'As a Christian man, it is easy to hide behind your faith — and I say that with all the respect to my faith and to Christianity — when you have other insecurities and other traumatic things that you're trying to work through,' said Underwood. Although the fact that some of the contestants — like a cocktail waitress and an NFL cheerleader — were still virgins may shock viewers, the hosts said they were not surprised. 'You spend a minute around them and you're like, 'Oh, I get it now,'' Underwood said. 5 During one awkward moment on the series, Michael, a stand-up comedian from Austin, tells Rachael, a cocktail waitress from Tampa, that his celebrity crush is William Howard Taft. Disney The hosts also had their fill of boring banter and anemic pickup lines — like when Michael, 26, a stand-up comedian from Austin, TX, revealed his celebrity crush was the late 27th president, William Howard Taft. 'I didn't even know who that is,' Underwood confessed. Bristowe said it was the awkward silences that really got to her. 'Everything in me wants to step in and be like, 'Somebody say something!''
