Typically when there’s a huge sports event airing on a weekend, fans will flock to their local sports bar to watch it on numerous large televisions, eat greasy good, and drink excessively. But it may be difficult for fans to find bars airing the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight tonight – simply because it’s too damn expensive for the bars.
The price for viewers at home is a cool $99.99 in HD on pay-per-view, so going to a sports bar seems like a much cheaper option. And it is…if you can find a bar that will air the fight. Because of how expensive the fight is, the cost for bars is also going up, with an average quote of $30 per person. Multiply that by the occupancy of the bar, and you’ve got yourself one pricey event, even with a cover charge.
If a bar were to charge patrons $10 to get in (as a local sports bar chain near me is doing), the customers would also need to spend $20 on food and drinks…just so the bar can break even on the PPV cost, let alone the cost of the food and drinks being consumed. If the bar decides to charge say, $20, the cost becomes prohibitive to the customers, who could just wrangle up a couple of buddies, kick in for a case of beer and a couple of pizzas, and end up spending as much money as they would had they gone out to a sports bar.
A couple of major national chains have taken stands in regards to the fight. Roughly two-thirds of Hooters locations will air the fight (at a cost of $5,100 per restaurant) and will charge a $30 cover, which also gets them a free appetizer and a $20 coupon for a future visit. Buffalo Wild Wings only plans on airing the fight at around 70 of its locations, and will charge a $20 cover.
Again I ask, if you’re going to pay that much to go out and watch the fight…why not just get a couple of friends together, order some food, buy some alcohol, and have fun at home?
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