viewing numbers for sports. It is estimated that the recent Floyd Mayweather vs. Connor McGregor fight was watched by nearly 3 million people illegally. So what steaming is one reason so what is the other? Cost to consumer. Just look at the previous mentioned May- weather vs. McGregor fight. Bars were selling seats at a premium price. So rather than paying a $10 to $15 cover, Sports Bars were charging hundreds of dollars for a table of four to watch the fight on TV and that does not include any drink or food with your friends which we all now can end up cost much more especially when the event goes the distance or is close and keep patrons at the bar and give your wallet as much of a pounding as the fighters in the ring or the players on the gridiron. With sports bar rituals putting on strain on fans limited budgets there is a trend to move to friends getting together and watching the games together in the Mancave, where you know that there will be amazing homemade game foods and you will have your favorite craft beer to enjoy it with great company, except for that one person, you know who I am talking about, but there are ten times better than some of the rude and obnoxious patrons that we have all had to deal with when watching the game. With more and more woman watching the NFL, almost half its fan base now, crowded sports bars with drunken fans both male and female, yelling over games is not their scene nor is it for most of the NFL’s male fans. It has also become popular for friends to host NFL game parties each week based on your favorite team and each week when your team plays you host the party and the next week the game and party move to the next house. This keeps it fun, affordable and safe for everyone to enjoy. So whether it is the availability of streaming for pay per view events or you wanted to keep within your budget and still enjoy watching the games with friends there is no denying that there is a changing trend in how sports fans are watching their favorite team play.
By Katie Davis Y ou would think with NFL season now three weeks, Baseball heading into the preseason and with the hockey and basketball season about to start that sports fans should be packing into sports bars to cheer on their teams right? Well if that is what you thought then yo u would be wrong. So why are so many streaming the game at home instead? Research from Foursquare found that in 2016, sports bar attendance has decided by 12 percent in cities with NFL teams and that goes up 1 percent in cities that do not have an NFL team to 13 percent. Research has also shown that there has been a 10 percent decline in sport fans who went to a sports bar more than three times during the 17-week season, while only 40 percent of fans who had been to sports bars more than six times during the 2015 season repeated this behavior in 2016. This is not good news for sports bar owners and a trend that is showing no signs of reversing. So what is causing this change is viewing habits for sport fans? It is a couple of reasons one being may are watch or streaming the game at home instead. The digital age has paved the way for streaming and subscription services. Plus with illegal sites popping up this also cuts into traditional
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SEPTEMBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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