Making the best of Sky for your business

You might be surprised to know one of the most common things we hear from customers (and non-Sky customers) is “We don’t want to be a sports bar.”
Well, unless you want to be a sports bar, we don’t want you to be one either. But we can help you entertain your customers with loads of fantastic content if they run out of chat (it happens!), or the kids need a little distraction.
Many of our bars, pubs and gastro pub Sky customers understand the value of live Sky Sport as an entertainment offering for their business to run alongside their music entertainment offerings, their quiz entertainment offerings, and their stand-up comedian offerings. Kiwis are huge sport fans and they love catching the All Blacks, Silver Ferns, the Warriors, and the BLACKCAPS, even when out on a date or hanging with mates. 
How you use Sky to draw in more customers is up to you, but we’ve asked a few long-term customers how they take advantage of what Sky has to offer. You might just find some great ideas that will work for you. 

Bringing out the big guns
The All Blacks, Super Rugby and NRL are great drawcards no matter what type of venue you are. It doesn’t stop there though, we have so many other marquee events that are great for getting punters interested. There is Superbowl, The Masters, Bathurst, FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games and so much more!
Dux Central in Christchurch tells us “our customers do hang around longer on a rugby night than they normally would. We aren’t a sports bar, but it is good to have these unmissable games on in the background to keep our customers entertained.” It also means some customers at venues can’t use the excuse “but the game’s on” to get out of a date with the other half!  The recent Fortinet Rugby Championship featuring the ‘ABs’ in Australia had some of the highest rating events in the last couple of years.  The enduring appeal of the All Blacks is not something to mess with.
Porterhouse Grill in Pakuranga only puts Sky content on their screen during the big games. “We promote all of the big games on our Facebook and Instagram. We like to draw in the casual sports fans to eat and dine while watching the content. We screened the All Blacks game before lockdown and it was awesome, we had people call to reserve tables and were able to service walk- ins too. It worked well.”

Always on
Three Wise Birds in Hastings tell us they don’t consider themselves a sports bar, but still show Sky Sport content most of the time they are open. “We have an indoor and outdoor TV so have it on most of the time. We often promote a game ‘on our socials’, and if someone asks for something, we will absolutely put it on.” For Three Wise Birds it is an added extra to help retain and grow their customer base.
The Mount Social Club seems to attract a lot of different communities and sport fans with a variety of interests. “We started showing UFC because we like it and that’s really growing. We also seem to have a lot of customers, so the football is popular here.  We find our customers come to us over the mainstream pubs for the atmosphere, but we’re not a sports venue. Anything which helps us gain more customers is a good thing.”

Got a theme? We’re here to help
Joe’s Garage tells us, “Marquee events are really important, especially when Kiwi superstars like Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin are involved. People need to be willing to go out and leave the TV at home and given we’re a bar which celebrates motorsport, it’s awesome to have the huge variety of racing available on Sky.”
The team at Joe’s Garage uses the content guides from Sky Business to let customers know what’s on when, so they can make a plan to get out and enjoy themselves, and never miss a race which matters to them.

Get in touch
No matter what sort of venue you are, or how you want to use Sky, there is a way for you to generate value and customers from your subscription. Whether you want to draw in the diehard sports fans, really celebrate your theme or capture casual fans deciding which bar to visit, Sky can help you out.