Enjoying IPL matches at home is just so passé. Head to restaurants that are serving stadium experience everywhere!

The Indian Premier League (IPL) isn’t just a game of cricket, it is a festival of joy for Indians who love their game. So, when we don’t enjoy other festivals alone, but with family, friends and food, why not enjoy IPL at the restaurants, pubs and bars where they are serving stadium experience along with food and drinks?

Sounds good, right! And there is a lot more to be excited about—right from dish names based on the game or cricket players to 1+1 free offers when your favourite team scores a six...the list is endless. Every restaurant owner is coming up innovating ideas aiming for that perfect shot, which helps ‘you’ enjoy the game in its entirety and helps ‘them’ (restaurant owners) raise revenues on the occasion.

Though we are all used to giant screen at the corner giving a different aspect of pleasure-viewing, The Ancient Barbeque restaurant in Noida has charged up its ambience using the IPL team flags and an altogether different theme. For this, they have divided the restaurant in two parts depending on the teams; the plan is to let the customers support respective teams sitting at their designated team space. Apart from design, they also have offers like 1+1 domestic liquor after each boundary and 1+1 imported liquor after each six.

What more would a cricket fan ask for during a cricket match. Manish Agarwal, a 26 year old techie instantly snaps, “Watching IPL at stadium is an experience. But enjoying IPL with same minded people at your favourite bar with unlimited food and drinks is definitely something we look forward to every season.”

With eyes glued to the giant screen and gulping down beer, Manish and his friends at a posh South Delhi restaurant are not the only exception in the national capital where people prefer to enjoy matches at a closed eatery over food and wine.

Even during the last IPL season that was held at UAE, restaurants pulled in more crowds as then people didn’t have much option to watch matches on the screen than at the stadium.

Rishi Kumar, General Manager of Rodeo in Delhi confirmed that IPL’s last season was a crowd puller. He said, “We have acknowledged a great footfall of approximately 20-30 % and did pretty good business last season. The timings (this time) of the matches are very favourable and will attract crowds to restaurants that are offering live viewing and other special packages.”

Rodeo, being a tex mex place at Connaught Place, Draught Beer and cocktails are the drinks people prefer while watching the matches.

Offering unlimited liquor is just another way to lure customers during any festivity. Walking the known path, hotels in outskirts of Mumbai including Hotel Sahara Star in Parle is offering the same.

Not very far from the national capital, Golden Tulip Ambient Resort & Spa at Chandigarh is expecting minimum 600 guests over the next 2 months and expects to earn Rs 4.25 lakh over the season.

It’s mostly the locals and not people flying in from other cities to watch IPL matches. While restaurants gain revenue and there is a boost in earnings from food and drinks even during lean periods, hotels don’t profit much during IPL season. Why hotels fail to gain much from the IPL fever is a different topic altogether, which we may touch upon some other day, but as of now the only message that we would like to share with you is: don’t waste your weekend sitting at home, just go out with friends and family in the evening and celebrate the ongoing ‘India ka Tyohar’ with food, drinks and cheer!

(Image: India Times)