With the Super Bowl just around the corner, is your restaurant ready to take on the big game with promotions and specials? If not, you might be missing out on one of the most epic days for restaurants across the nation, because the Super Bowl is not just an event for sports fans to come together and root for their teams, but also a chance for restaurateurs to profit.

In 2022, consumers spent around $14.6M across the Super Bowl Weekend. More importantly, food and drinks are an integral part of the football experience, so if you can take advantage of this day, you can not only attract new customers, but also generate excitement from your existing customer base.

Based on the latest data from National Retail Federation, 17.8M people plan on watching the game at a restaurant or bar. Also according to the Nation’s Restaurant News, 79% of them plan on watching the game and also buying food and drinks. In total, diners are expected to spend an average of $85.36 during Sunday's game. The Super Bowl isn’t just a simple football game, but also a great opportunity for restaurateurs to make the most of increased business. If you are wondering how you can become one of them, continue reading this article.

6 Ideas for Super Bowl Restaurant Promotions & Specials

Offer Takeout Specials

Super Bowl Sunday sees up to 48 million consumers ordering delivery. By offering a takeout special, such as family sized platters or combos of popular items like chicken wings and pizza, you can provide customers looking to watch the big game at home with friends and family a way to feed a crowd while satisfying everyone’s food preferences.

And if you accept takeout and delivery orders through INFI’s industry-leading POS solution, you can avoid 10-20% third party marketplace fees and free up your staff from having to answer phone orders, all while maximizing takeout and pickup orders.

Preparing for the Super Bowl Rush

We all know how important Super Bowl Sunday is for America and the restaurant industry. In order to be prepared for the busy weekend ahead, here are a few tips to get ready ahead of the Super Bowl.

1. Train your staff. Restaurants and bars alike will see a massive turnout as fans flock to watch the big game with food and alcohol. The increase in customer volume will be daunting for any seasoned restaurant staff, and to avoid customer complaints and inefficiencies, your staff should be ready to deal with the increase of orders in order to provide fast, efficient and memorable service to your hordes of customers.

2. Stock up on food and supplies: First and foremost, make sure you have enough food, beverages, and everything to accommodate the demanding weekend. Unlike your usual weekend, Super Bowl Sunday is America’s second largest food consumption day, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Over 300 million gallons of beer, 28 million pounds of chips and 1.42 billion chicken wings are consumed over the course of the game, so better stock up on your food and drink supply to meet the demands of hungry fans.

3. Promote your specials. While most Americans stick to the classic combo of beer, chips and chicken wings, that’s not to say that people aren’t willing to add new items to their usual roster of foods. Let your customers know about any new offerings or specials that your restaurant is promoting, and you’ll be able to make sales on items other than chicken wings.

4. Make sure your website/app is working. Whether you are using your own ordering app, or third-party delivery apps, make sure they are up to date and able to handle the higher volume of orders in order to avoid any crashes during Super Bowl Sunday.

Advertise on Social Media Early On

The sooner you announce your Super Bowl promotions, the easier for your customers to make plans ahead of time. Don’t wait until the day before the Super Bowl to start, and make sure you have enough time to advertise your restaurant and stand out from your competitors. Here are a few tips for you to promote your restaurant on social media.

First, make sure your ads are creative and appealing enough to catch people’s attention. Second, collaborate with local food influencers in your area and have them promote your restaurant on social media. If done correctly, their wider audience will attract new customers to your restaurant. Lastly, make sure you use relevant hashtags to reach the right audience ahead of time, so people know what your restaurant offers during the Super Bowl weekend. Don’t forget to check what hashtags your competitor is using and apply them to your own posts for greater reach.

Host a Super Bowl Inspired Contest

Wanted something fun and engaging to engage customers? A Super Bowl inspired contest can be a great way to catch people’s attention. Here are 3 contest ideas to help you get started:

1. Social media contest: What’s better than hosting a social media contest, where you encourage your customers to share their unforgettable Super Bowl moments at your restaurant/bar. Simply ask your customers to take their Super Bowl photos at the restaurant and post it on their social media while tagging the restaurant’s social media account. The best photo and caption can get a prize such as a gift card or a free drink/menu item.

2. Eating contest: Super Bowl is the perfect time to host an eating contest at your restaurant. The most easy and classic food item can be either chicken wings, pizza or nachos. Take advantage of the half time show and see who can eat the most. Simply just charge the participant an entrance fee for the contest, whoever eats the most can receive a prize from the restaurant. The prize can be flexible depending on the budget of your restaurant.

Create Special Game Day Menus

Without any doubt, special game day menus are a must for any restaurant that wants to stand out from their competitors. The Super Bowl wouldn’t be complete without the classic combo of chicken wings, nachos, pizzas, and beers. But you can add a special twist to these classics and turn them into unique Super Bowl specials for customers.

After you update your menu for Super Bowl weekend, don’t forget to create and publish your special game day menu a few weeks ahead of time so diners know what to expect from you. Most importantly, remember to update the menu on your self-ordering kiosk as well so that new customers won’t miss out on your Super Bowl specials when they place orders at your restaurant.

Offer Pre-Ordering Discount

According to a survey by Punchh, restaurant food orders started to influx 7 hours before the game. Although the volume of orders is good for the restaurant, at the same time it can cause a lot of other issues like an overworked kitchen, orders that take forever to fulfill and impatient customers. Offering a pre-ordering discount can be a good way to eliminate these problems by incentivizing customers to order ahead of time. Restaurants will then have enough time to prepare for the orders while still being able to manage other incoming orders. Don’t forget to advertise your discount ahead of time, either through social media, email, posters, or even text, in order to make sure your customers know about the deadline for the discount.

When Should You Start Promoting Your Restaurant For the Super Bowl?

Now. Since the Super Bowl is only two weeks away from us, it’s never too early to start promoting your restaurant. Don’t wait until a few days before the game day, since that would be too late. Be prepared and ready by making sure people know about your Super Bowl promotions and specials ahead of time.

If you would like to save money from using third-party delivery apps, INFI helps restaurants to develop their own mobile app and website. INFI's mobile app development service gets you on the right path in 4 quick steps: communication, design, development, and launch. For more information on how you develop your own mobile app, don’t forget to schedule a Demo with our representatives.