Super Bowl restaurant promotions are a way to maximize revenue at the very beginning of the year. Maybe you want to implement catering ideas to drive sales amongst those who host a Super Bowl watch party from home. Or, maybe you’re designing a menu to include all game day food favorites, right down to half-off half time snacks for football fans. 

The National Football League (NFL) has a massive audience, which means that millions of people are on the hunt for festive Super Bowl restaurant promotions. With this guide, you can be on your way to attracting passionate fans and enormous boosts in revenue. So, without further ado, let’s kick off this article with a brief introduction!

Got Any Super Bowl Restaurant Plans?

Are you looking for fun football party ideas? Or, are you simply searching for football party finger food recipes to serve at your tailgate sports bar? Either way, you’re in the right place! 

Super Bowl restaurant game plans (see what we did there?) can span numerous ideas and tactics. You can get creative with culinary ideas to have a completely thematic variety of menu types. Or, you can zero in on the outcome of the game by centering all your efforts around score predictions, prizes, and more. 

No matter which route you go, Super Bowl restaurant strategies can lead to a significant amount of foot traffic and sales. Now, check out the next section to discover how you can optimize the most anticipated game of the year.

11 Super Bowl Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Super Bowl restaurant marketing ideas can be as creative as you’d like them to be. Football games center around themes, team pride, and an end goal. This combination of elements makes for a perfect recipe for a festive game day. 

Below, you’ll find eleven Super Bowl restaurant marketing strategies that all football bars can leverage for success. Read on:

1. An Exclusive Super Bowl Food Menu

A limited edition Super Bowl menu is a sure way to pique the interest of past customers and local football fans. The best thing you could possibly do is create thematic menus. Maybe even a one-page menu for each team, with lingo revolving around each team’s city, players, color scheme, mascot, and so on. 

Then, you need to ensure that you accommodate everyone to truly drive restaurant success. This means including healthy tailgate food. Maybe these options can be gluten-free. Vegan and vegetarian Super Bowl food options are also essential. If you really want to establish a sense of product differentiation, prepare things like low-carb and keto Super Bowl snacks. Whether you serve hot or cold tailgate food, the variety is what matters most.

2. Super Bowl Sunday Catering Services

There’s a great chance that your business will be extremely busy on game day, especially if it’s the best sports bar to watch football in your town. So, it might be a lucrative venture to create a catering menu. Going to sports bars to watch football may not always be the most family-friendly activity, anyway. Offering customers the same kind of dining experience in the comfort of their own home will likely be a huge hit this football season.

3. Team Spirit Discounts

Encourage customers to get their head in the game by hosting team spirit discounts. You can offer 10 percent off the total bill if the customer is wearing one of the team’s colors. For the most dedicated fans, you can then offer a 20 percent discount if they show up wearing team-branded merch, like jerseys, beanies, and so on. It’s that simple! Plus, it’ll lead to fantastic digital assets when photos are taken.

4. Family Style Dining Platters 

To make the ordering process simpler for both customers and the wait staff, serve party platters for on and off-premise dining. The Super Bowl is the kind of event where people tend to enjoy finger foods anyway. So, offer a wide variety of your best-selling shareable dishes on family-size platters.

5. Team-Inspired Cocktails

Alcohol has a higher markup than all the other types of inventory. With this in mind, serving team-spirited cocktails can be a massive source of revenue on Super Bowl Sunday. Creating mixed drink recipes that are twists on popular cocktails is the simplest way to accomplish this objective.

For this example, let’s use the 2023 Super Bowl where the Kansas City Chiefs played against the Philadelphia Eagles. A restaurant could have made a 

“Kansas City Kickoff” featuring strawberry puree, lemonade, vodka, and a lemon slice for garnishing. It’s a basic recipe that would likely sell due to the name and it includes the Chief’s color palette.

Then, there could have been another drink with a name like "Flying Eagle," which could simply be a twist on a classic grasshopper. The crème de menthe will make for a green cocktail that many Eagles fans would gravitate toward.

Jello shots are a fun addition to any menu, too! The best part? The gelatin allows you to layer multiple colors. The perfect concept for thematic events!

Let your mixology skills and imagination run wild with this one. Don't forget to ask your bartender for their input as well. With the enthusiasm behind football teams, you can probably find inspiration for an entire drink menu if you really wanted to!

6. Half-Off Appetizers and Drinks During Halftime

Retain customers at your brick and mortar restaurant and accelerate profits halfway through the night with discounts. And what’s a better time to price menu items at half the amount than during halftime? It sounds like a perfect match if you ask us! Items that should be part of this promotion include specialty cocktails and a selection from the appetizer list.

7. Football-Centric Social Media Campaigns

Join the hype surrounding Super Bowl weekend by sharing interactive and engaging posts on social media. For starters, you can share snippets of what you’ll be serving for the game, including team-inspired menu items. Then, promote discounts on said dishes and drinks.

You also can’t go wrong with shareable memes about the teams that’ll be playing. And of course, interactive polls regarding the players, winning team predictions, and the halftime show should spark a ton of activity. Users are so active on social media in order to keep up with player updates and the score. Take advantage of the boost in user activity and put your brand in front of millions.

8. Winning Team Prediction Contest

Place a card on each table setting that asks for the customer’s name, phone number, email address, and what they predict the final score will be. The phone number and email address will give you a sure way of contacting them once the game is over.

Up until the end of the first quarter, allow customers to submit their final score predictions. Doing this early on in the game will surely stir up anticipation and excitement. You can get super creative with the prize(s), too. From autographed posters of players to gift cards for the official NFL eCommerce store, your options are endless. Can’t decide on a prize? Select three winners and offer a variety!

Bonus tip: add a checkbox at the bottom of the card asking something along the lines of, “Would you like to hear from us about future promotions like this?” You never know, this strategy may end up growing your restaurant email list and SMS subscriber count.

9. Establish Partnerships With Local Schools and Businesses

Partner with local school districts and businesses to further promote your Super Bowl restaurant promotions. For example, you can supply schools with coupons they can distribute amongst the students. Or, you can do the same with local sporting goods and athletic apparel retailers. In turn, you can promote these brands and organizations across different parts of your marketing mix, like the email and SMS campaigns.

10. A Chance to Win Tickets to the Super Bowl

If you really want to invest in Super Bowl restaurant marketing tactics, host a giveaway that includes two tickets to the game. The way it would work is every bill at the end of a meal would come with a giveaway submission ticket. So the more times a customer dines at your restaurant, the greater the chances are of them winning tickets.  

This strategy is a way to accelerate brand exposure during the weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday. It’s also perfect if the Super Bowl is taking place near your city. When this is the case, you won’t feel the need to include flight tickets, too. Super Bowl tickets are such sought-after products that you’re bound to see a surge in sales from this tactic.

11. Email and SMS Alerts Promoting All Super Bowl Festivities 

Don’t ever forget the power of SMS campaigns or an email marketing strategy. Both forms of communication give businesses direct access to their customer base. So, during the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, send alerts to all your subscribers about what you’re offering for the game. There are so many fun watch parties to attend on Super Bowl Sunday. So, send out invites to your target audience sooner than later for the best turnout possible.

Frequently Asked Questions About Super Bowl Restaurant Marketing

Are you ready to begin planning your Super Bowl restaurant strategies? The great thing about them is that there is a massive variety of tactics. The Super Bowl is an event treated like a holiday by so many football fanatics, making it a profitable day, and maybe even weekend. If you would like a brief overview of Super Bowl restaurant facets, take a look at the FAQ section below!

Are There Special Super Bowl Restaurant Deals?

Yes, many restaurants offer special deals for the Super Bowl. Such deals and promotions are especially popular within casual restaurants and sports bars.

Which Restaurants Are Open On Super Bowl Sunday?

Most restaurants should be open on Super Bowl Sunday. However, there may be special edition drinks and menus. It's also important to remember that any restaurant with televisions will be super crowded (no pun intended).

Which Restaurants Offer Super Bowl Catering Services?

Depending on your city and the teams playing in the Super Bowl, the restaurants that offer catering can vary. However, it’s safe to say that most restaurants that will offer Super Bowl catering are casual eateries, such as sports bars. That’s because appetizers and football party finger food are the ultimate Super Bowl food groups.

What Time Do Restaurants Close On Super Bowl Sunday?

Restaurants that are showing the Super Bowl always close after the game is over. Unless their normal hours run through the early morning, you can probably expect to see restaurants close within an hour or so of the game ending. Any restaurants that don't display the Super Bowl should stick to normal business hours.

Do Restaurants Have Special Menus for the Super Bowl?

Yes, many restaurants in the sports bar category have special menus for the Super Bowl. They often consist of game day cocktails, discounted beer brands, and appetizers.

Super Restaurant Marketing Strategies for Game Day

Super Bowl restaurant plans can be full of team spirit, sporty menu items, and boosts in revenue. As long as you have television screens throughout your restaurant, we can’t stress enough just how lucrative Super Bowl Sunday can be. So,  use this article as a guide to create some of the most thematic marketing tactics of the year. It’s safe to say that you’ll be happy with the results.