If you own a bar or restaurant, you may want to take advantage of our March Madness promotions.

The NCAA college basketball tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, is one of the biggest, most exciting events in all of sports. With March just being a few weeks away, industries of all kinds are looking for ways to lure customers and get fans in on the fun. But there is no industry that can profit more from March Madness than the bar and restaurant industry. Especially following the pandemic, restaurants have been forced to change operations, cancel gatherings and even close.

But luckily, the multi-week sports event is played until April 3rd which gives you plenty of opportunity to find promotions to work for your event or business.

Will March Madness Be The Same?

Before we get to the promotions, we can’t talk about March Madness without addressing the elephant in the room. As we know, March Madness was cancelled last year (2020) due to the pandemic. This year, there will be slight adjustments and changes to the event to consider the safety of the players. One major change is the location. For the first time ever, the NCAA will host the entire tournament in one geographic location. The NCAA announced in early January the entire 2021 men’s basketball championship will be played in Indiana, with the majority of the tournament’s 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. All teams will be housed on dedicated hotel floors, with physically distanced meeting and dining rooms, as well as secure transportation to and from competition venues.

The bracket will be handled a little bit differently, too. The top four seeds will be handled the same and so will the First Four. The changes will come in how the rest of the bracket is completed. Teams will be placed in the bracket based on rankings without the usual considerations for geography. There will be 37 at-large selections (one more than normal) and 31 automatic qualifiers (one fewer than normal).

5 March Madness Promotion Ideas

NCAA Perfect Bracket

The best way to get in on The NCAA fun is by filling out a bracket! Gather all your contestants’ brackets and submit them to Interactive Promotions Group. Once the NCAA champion is crowned, we will evaluate your brackets to see if you have a perfect bracket winner. The official bracket of the NCAA, will open immediately after the committee announces the field on Selection Sunday (March 14th 2021).

Prediction Based Promotions

Sometimes a lucky guess is all it takes to win! If a lucky customer at your bar can guess the final score, guess the leading scorer’s point total, winning team or any condition you set is met then your customer wins! This promotion is a fabulous way to unite fans and keep them focused on the game. Also, remember that a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, so put your game face on. 

March Madness Bracket Themed Menu

You know your menu, including which items are most popular during sports events. But do you know your customers could predict the winner in your own head-to-head March Madness Menu Bracket? Have beer go head-to-head with side dishes. This is a great time to introduce basketball themed menu items or introduce new specials. New items will excite customers and make them more likely to visit your bar or restaurant.

Use Beer To Your Advantage

March is historically a major month for beer sales. In fact, the highest beer sales of the entire year happened on March 15, thanks to the month’s perfect combination of both March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day. This is a great chance to extend your happy hour specials to bring in more customers. After all, customers will likely be staying in your bar or restaurant for awhile—why not give them a deal? 

Takeout Promotions & Deals To Keep Customers Coming Back

No matter how great your bar or restaurant is, there will always be some customers who just prefer to watch at home. So be sure you offer great takeout deals to encourage those customers to eat your food during the games. Or you can create March Madness prize ideas that invites customers back, such as a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert with the purchase of an entrée.

Beyond beer and brackets, see what other March Madness contest ideas you can come up with. If you have another fun idea for a March Madness contest or promotions, just give us a call at 888-882-5140.  We can always customize a promotion to fit exactly what you need.