There’s less than two months until Super Bowl Sunday, with the biggest sporting event of the year to be held right in our backyard at the New Jersey Meadowlands arena. Our B2C-facing division, JD Pro, recently created an infographic comparing costs of attending the game at the stadium with building the ideal home theatre system to host an amazing Super Bowl party. But we didn’t even mention the next best thing: Going to a favorite sports bar to watch the game with friends.
That puts the burden on you, the sports bar owner, to ensure their experience is one to remember so they will tell their friends and come back next year for the whole football season. Are you ready for it?
Start with the Video Screens
One of our clients once told us, “I don’t want my customers to have to turn their head to view any game they want to see.” On Super Bowl Sunday, that’s easy, since there’s only one game anybody wants to see.
But that means that every seat around your bar and in your restaurant should have an optimal viewing angle of the game. This means the screens should be the right size for the viewing distance. It’s okay if they are looking from across the bar at a 10-foot diagonal projection screen, but they shouldn’t be squinting to see a 46-inch monitor from across the room. Close-up viewing requires smaller screens to see the whole picture. Some restaurant owners even mount 32- or 36-inch screens inside VIP booths.
If you’ve already got updated systems (that means no tube televisions or boxy plasmas from the turn-of-the-century) you’ll want to stroll around your restaurant or bar on a busy Saturday night, when the booths are full, and see if anyone is having trouble seeing. Can you see a screen from virtually everywhere in your sports bar?
Do a quick evaluation to see where you could improve:
- Are there blank walls that could benefit from a new screen?
- Are any screens broken or not functioning or not showing the crystal clear picture they should have?
- Is text showing up on screens where it shouldn’t be, such as menu commands?
- Are projectors bright enough?
If you don’t like what you see, it’s time to call an audio visual design consultant like JD Systems to help you upgrade and improve your systems now.
Audio System Evaluation
Audio runs a very close second to the video when it comes to your Super Bowl Sunday celebration. Just as you ran your own visual test of the video systems, you’ll want to assess your audio.
First, take a look in the control room or equipment rack and check your amplifiers. Digital amps typically provide an LED read-out if the amplifier is blown or running too hot. Then it’s time for the sound test.
Again, on a busy football night, stroll around the venue. Can you hear well from nearly any space in the house? If you have a Crestron portable touch pad or iPad control of your audio video systems, walk around with the controller so you can adjust sound levels manually. If intelligibility is really bad in any particular area, you could have blown speakers or the EQ could be off. If adjusting the volume doesn’t help, call a professional audio integrator for service or a sound system upgrade while you still have plenty of time to plan ahead.
JD Systems is accustomed to working around the clock, so we don’t have to interrupt your nightly business to give your customers the sound they deserve for Super Bowl Sunday.
Where Are Your Customers Spending Super Bowl Sunday?
Now, when you ask the New York football fans in your area where they are spending their Super Bowl Sunday, the answer should be “C,” their favorite New York sports bar or restaurant.