March Madness Means Big Business for Buffalo Wild Wings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- March Madness brings people together. They want to compare brackets and share a meal, watching multiple games at one time, and one Minnesota company is making the most of this sports holiday.
Pete and Melissa Fricke gather with their friends every year for the first Friday of March Madness.
"It's our Christmas, I guess," Melissa Fricke said.
Instead of exchanging gifts, they bring highlighters and share brackets, beers and wings -- and they're not alone.
Bob Ruhland, the Vice President of Marketing for Buffalo Wild Wings, says 102 million viewers tuned in last year to an average of 377 minutes of NCAA basketball. More than 60 million of them filled out tournament brackets, too.
"It's one of the two biggest times of the year for us," Ruhland said. "They may want to come in and just watch the game, they may want to be in an environment that's alive around March Madness, or they may want to go deeper with the whole second screen experience."
Each year, social media becomes a bigger part of the mix for the Minneapolis-based company. Buffalo Wild Wings now has a tournament tracker on their website, and there's a team live tweeting what they call "wing wisdom," during games.
"Everybody has a great experience because they're engaging through our tablets, or through the games on TV, or maybe by having a little family time," Ruhland said.
Of course, "family" is a loosely defined term, especially for the Frickes and their friends.
"It's fun to share some beers crossing things off the tournament brackets," Melissa Fricke said. "Hopefully more wins than losses."
Last year, Buffalo Wild Wings served more than 94 million wings during March Madness. Their best-selling sauces in Minnesota were medium and honey barbecue.
