How Bars and Restaurants Use Pick'em Pools to Fill Seats on Game Day

Every bar has a crowd on the big games. The trick is getting people back on an ordinary Sunday in October, and getting them to stay for the late game. A free pick'em pool does both, because it gives your regulars something at stake every single week, and it gives them a reason to bring a friend.

Start with a prize people pick up in person

The best prize for a bar or restaurant is one the winner has to come in to collect: a $25 bar tab, a free appetizer, a burger and a beer. It costs you little, it happens every week, and the winner almost never comes alone. Add a bigger prize for the season champion, like a party package or a gift certificate, to keep people playing through December.

Keep it free to enter

This part matters. A contest with a prize, an element of chance and a required purchase can be an illegal lottery in many states. Do not require a drink, an order or a cover charge to play or to win. Anyone should be able to join from their phone for free. Post official rules (Sports Picker includes a template) that list the prize, who can enter and how to claim it.

Put the join code everywhere

Print the QR flyer and put it on every table, the bar and the front door. People join in about ten seconds. Mention it on your socials once a week with the current leader, and you have a weekly post that writes itself.

Put the leaderboard on the TV

Share the live standings link and put it on one of your screens during the games. Seeing your own name in third place, two picks back, is the best advertisement the pool has. It starts conversations between tables that did not know each other.

Run a squares board for the big game

For the Super Bowl, a free squares board with prizes every quarter turns a watch party into a game everyone in the room is part of. Use prizes from the house, not money from players.

List it for the whole town

List your pool under "Near you" on Sports Picker's Featured page and fans within 50 miles see it, with your name on it. A game-day special for players ("show us the pool on your phone") is a fine promotion, as long as it is not a condition of playing.

Keep it going after football

When football ends, roll into a March Madness bracket, then an NBA or NHL playoff pool, then a golf pool for the majors. Same crew, new reason to come in.

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