Dear Reader,
This article was originally published in the SCCG Management Weekly Newsletter #17 on December 3, 2020.
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Imagine venues like bars, restaurants, stadiums, and arenas combined with the energy associated with a live social sportsbook. This is the promise of eFanGage, a partnership between SCCG Management and Backal Hospitality Group. This week, Stephen Crystal, SCCG Management founder, announced that eFangage had selected Scout Gaming Group of Stockholm, Sweden, to power this simulated social sportsbook technology for the US.
In April, 2020, NPD, with access to point of sale data from “600,000 retail locations .. e-commerce and mobile platforms”, and “Millions of receipts from 130,000 consumers .. focused on General Merchandise and Foodservice, covering all channels”, reported that declines in US chain restaurant consumer sales were stabilizing at an astounding 41%.
This decline was already a trend before being hit by a global pandemic. Still, some chains avoided this decline, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Full-Service Brands, First Watch, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, and Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant joined a larger list of fast-casual/quick-service restaurants. These brands saw double-digit year over year growth in US revenue from “18% to more than 34%, for their latest completed fiscal years, which ended in late 2019 and early 2020.
There is substantial pent up demand for venues that allow for much-needed socialization, food, beverage, and entertainment. There is light at the end of the tunnel for a vaccine to unlock this opportunity.
The FDA announced it scheduled open sessions to discuss emergency use authorization for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc. by mid-November, and the CDC has been working with private pharmacy chains as well as state, tribal, territorial and local governments on distribution. With the first round of available vaccines likely going to health care workers and then out to the larger community at the beginning of 2021, we’re seeing real hope for unlocking the broader economy from the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 and its management protocols.
What is clear is that there will be a strong re-engagement with social venues in the US, and the restaurants, bars, and arenas which can provide engagement with the community beyond normal expectations. These venues will be best poised to capture early and repeat customers. There is no content like sports in the US, better suited to mobilize guest engagement, and products like eFanGage’s social sportsbooks will lead the rebound.
If you would like to learn more about eFanGage and what it can do for your venues, contact us. We would love to hear from you.
