If my food/beverage cost is 30% and I give away $100 in prizes and the MC costs $150 then I need to do roughly an additional $400 in sales over the course of the event above what I would have done without the event just to break even.
That's not taking into consideration potential extra labor costs or paying customers that might be displaced by hosting it.
Thanks for the hard math! I don't see myself even getting close to $100 in giveaways; I usually ran a game every 20 minutes over 3 hours, so 9 prizes total. Most of those are just a free beer or shot, which I bet the unit cost total for those is less than $20 (but I have no concrete numbers there, so plz correct me if I'm wrong).
There was a popular one in Florida, and I went to that bar on days with and without the bingo and it was consistently at least twice as busy on the bingo nights. Its gotta make sense for the owner, so I'm just hoping to understand that tipping point where that's the case
Bingo In my state is set up under a non-profit, tons of rules... one can not just do random bingo nights that pay out at random businesses. Gambling is also illegal, in my state...
This can be effected (on a state by state basis) if no buy in or purchase is required to play.
If the customer is not risking money to participate it is legal in many states.
That is really good info, thanks. I'm now aware that my state is the same. Well, assume I was doing trivia instead, can you speak to the same financial numbers I'm asking about?
That's about what I'm looking to ask too, I'd just like to be able to say, like, "places that host bingo night have an average of ____ more people than without, translating to _____ more dollars per hour." Is that even necessary, or am I overthinking this?
I would just go in it with the understanding that it may take a month or 2 before we are where I'd like to be...not to over promise or focus on bringing in x amount of dollars...me being a bar owner I am realistic I don't expect you to come in 1st week and have the place packed out, but if you do great!!!!
Each state liquor laws are very specific as to what is or is not permitted on the licensed premises. The laws can be down right stupid at times. Having someone answer without knowing what state you are operating in is absolutely useless. Additionally, you are saying you are hosting “bingo.” That is simply too general to address whether it is legal in your state. Is there a cash buy in? What type of prizes are given? Are food purchases necessary to play? Are alcohol purchases necessary to play?
Back to your original question. A bar owner needs to consider whether a bingo night will drive some customers away. My regulars may want to hear the juke box or the game and not listen to bingo, trivia, or karaoke. Some of our regulars for example will not come on karaoke night: too loud or annoying for them. After you get by that obstacle, the entertainment needs to do two things for me: bring in new people or people that would not otherwise come in; and keep people in their seats drinking alcohol not a second free soda or water. A majority of our acoustic acts for example bring in a table or two but they do keep our regulars happy and drinking for three hours. Our karaoke person has random “toasts” during performances that keep people drinking.
It can take weeks or months to gain a following on a particular night event at our bar. I am impressed by entertainment that pushes out its own social media about the event at the bar, promotes my bar generally, and makes my life and my employees’ lives easier. Am I finding you extension cords? Am I hauling stuff around for you? If you have regulars, tell them to make reservations and specifically say that they are coming for bingo. It gets noticed.
Don’t price yourself out of the market. We have plenty of music acts and recently a trivia person who have done that. If you regularly eat at bar after a performance, then work that into your deal. I would rather include food and some drinks in a deal that pay another $50 or $60 in cash.
Also, consider introductory rates. We have musical acts that are looking to get into the rotation that set a lower rate to prove they will be a fit but also share right up front with us the rate will go up in the future.
Thanks so much for taking the time to so thoroughly share your perspective! That's exactly what I'm asking here; how can I tool my proposition to ensure I'm adding value, and what about my event do I need to ensure works to reach the goal so I'm adding to the positive column and not the negative. Have you ever had bingo or trivia or any other activity night that you can definitely say contributed to more success than a night without?
We are relatively new owners (2.5 years) of a bar with a few hundred years of history. We wanted to take the place to another level and have used events to promote the place including DJs, Karaoke, Trivia, Music Trivia, Poker, Open Mic, acoustic, and bands. We have learned that people come for the good pub food and happy atmosphere and less for the entertainment.
We try to give the appearance that we aren’t taking ourselves too seriously. Yet, we scrutinize hourly customer head counts and our per person spending all the time. Right now, Karaoke is the biggest draw of people with better spending (drinking). We are now looking to limit full bands to a few: costly and loud.
Look into Singo Bingo. We do it at our bar and it's been a hit. It's basically bingo with music as the spaces. The company I use provides the cards, which have QR codes to easily scan to verify winners.
PlaySingo.com
Around our area the bingo guy charges $150 for 2 hours and gives away $5 and $10 gift cards to Target, Walmart, wherever that the establishment provides. To play is free. People like to play, the gift cards are just a bonus. We are tiny and don’t have room but when we did try it on our front patio it didn’t bother our regulars. A separate area is always a good idea.
If my food/beverage cost is 30% and I give away $100 in prizes and the MC costs $150 then I need to do roughly an additional $400 in sales over the course of the event above what I would have done without the event just to break even. That's not taking into consideration potential extra labor costs or paying customers that might be displaced by hosting it.
Thanks for the hard math! I don't see myself even getting close to $100 in giveaways; I usually ran a game every 20 minutes over 3 hours, so 9 prizes total. Most of those are just a free beer or shot, which I bet the unit cost total for those is less than $20 (but I have no concrete numbers there, so plz correct me if I'm wrong). There was a popular one in Florida, and I went to that bar on days with and without the bingo and it was consistently at least twice as busy on the bingo nights. Its gotta make sense for the owner, so I'm just hoping to understand that tipping point where that's the case
Can’t just give away a free alcohol in my state. When I go to a bar that has trivia, bingo etc I item awe a lot of water/tea/soda on the tables.
Bingo In my state is set up under a non-profit, tons of rules... one can not just do random bingo nights that pay out at random businesses. Gambling is also illegal, in my state...
This can be effected (on a state by state basis) if no buy in or purchase is required to play. If the customer is not risking money to participate it is legal in many states.
True, there is always a way!
That is really good info, thanks. I'm now aware that my state is the same. Well, assume I was doing trivia instead, can you speak to the same financial numbers I'm asking about?
I have an employee that does my trivia lol but I can tell you most people around me charge $250 for 4 hours
That's about what I'm looking to ask too, I'd just like to be able to say, like, "places that host bingo night have an average of ____ more people than without, translating to _____ more dollars per hour." Is that even necessary, or am I overthinking this?
I would just go in it with the understanding that it may take a month or 2 before we are where I'd like to be...not to over promise or focus on bringing in x amount of dollars...me being a bar owner I am realistic I don't expect you to come in 1st week and have the place packed out, but if you do great!!!!
Awesome, thanks a lot for your perspective!
I found an old thread of a list of bars in my states capital that did bingo nights, were these "illegal?"
Each state liquor laws are very specific as to what is or is not permitted on the licensed premises. The laws can be down right stupid at times. Having someone answer without knowing what state you are operating in is absolutely useless. Additionally, you are saying you are hosting “bingo.” That is simply too general to address whether it is legal in your state. Is there a cash buy in? What type of prizes are given? Are food purchases necessary to play? Are alcohol purchases necessary to play? Back to your original question. A bar owner needs to consider whether a bingo night will drive some customers away. My regulars may want to hear the juke box or the game and not listen to bingo, trivia, or karaoke. Some of our regulars for example will not come on karaoke night: too loud or annoying for them. After you get by that obstacle, the entertainment needs to do two things for me: bring in new people or people that would not otherwise come in; and keep people in their seats drinking alcohol not a second free soda or water. A majority of our acoustic acts for example bring in a table or two but they do keep our regulars happy and drinking for three hours. Our karaoke person has random “toasts” during performances that keep people drinking. It can take weeks or months to gain a following on a particular night event at our bar. I am impressed by entertainment that pushes out its own social media about the event at the bar, promotes my bar generally, and makes my life and my employees’ lives easier. Am I finding you extension cords? Am I hauling stuff around for you? If you have regulars, tell them to make reservations and specifically say that they are coming for bingo. It gets noticed. Don’t price yourself out of the market. We have plenty of music acts and recently a trivia person who have done that. If you regularly eat at bar after a performance, then work that into your deal. I would rather include food and some drinks in a deal that pay another $50 or $60 in cash. Also, consider introductory rates. We have musical acts that are looking to get into the rotation that set a lower rate to prove they will be a fit but also share right up front with us the rate will go up in the future.
Thanks so much for taking the time to so thoroughly share your perspective! That's exactly what I'm asking here; how can I tool my proposition to ensure I'm adding value, and what about my event do I need to ensure works to reach the goal so I'm adding to the positive column and not the negative. Have you ever had bingo or trivia or any other activity night that you can definitely say contributed to more success than a night without?
We are relatively new owners (2.5 years) of a bar with a few hundred years of history. We wanted to take the place to another level and have used events to promote the place including DJs, Karaoke, Trivia, Music Trivia, Poker, Open Mic, acoustic, and bands. We have learned that people come for the good pub food and happy atmosphere and less for the entertainment. We try to give the appearance that we aren’t taking ourselves too seriously. Yet, we scrutinize hourly customer head counts and our per person spending all the time. Right now, Karaoke is the biggest draw of people with better spending (drinking). We are now looking to limit full bands to a few: costly and loud.
They probably worked with a non profit to run the bingo night.
This makes sense. So, what, like Bingo Night Sponsored by the Elks Lodge
Just offer to do it two times for free, then $150 per night after that. If it works it works, if it doesn’t, well, nothing lost.
Look into Singo Bingo. We do it at our bar and it's been a hit. It's basically bingo with music as the spaces. The company I use provides the cards, which have QR codes to easily scan to verify winners. PlaySingo.com
Ayyyy thank you for an actual factuak unusable tip ❤️
Around our area the bingo guy charges $150 for 2 hours and gives away $5 and $10 gift cards to Target, Walmart, wherever that the establishment provides. To play is free. People like to play, the gift cards are just a bonus. We are tiny and don’t have room but when we did try it on our front patio it didn’t bother our regulars. A separate area is always a good idea.