The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight just got too expensive for Buffalo Wild Wings
Only a few company locations will screen the fight this Saturday between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and there will be charge a $20 cover, according to Bloomberg.
Here's the full explanation from James Schmidt, the chief operating officer, during the company's earnings call on Tuesday (emphasis added):
The decision was based on the cost of the fight. I think it's about $5,100 a restaurant and so we did not feel comfortable with the cost. And then, also, with the time of the fight being at 8 o'clock Central, for our stores on the West Coast it would be right in the middle of our dinner hour.
So because of that we decided to only air it at a handful of restaurants on the company side. I believe on the franchise side, we have around 70 restaurants that are going to be airing it on the franchise side. I think on the franchise side, they are more comfortable charging a cover. We're going to try it for the first time on the company side really with the restaurants we're holding it in, but I think franchisees tend to charge to cover more frequently than we do.
The concern for investors is how this will affect sales. CEO Sally Smith noted that 1% of the company's comparable-store sales in the second quarter last year came from the World Cup.
And although this is a one-off fight, the company can use all the sales it can get.
Shares of Buffalo Wild Wings are more than 13% lower after its disappointing quarterly results announced on Tuesday. Revenues came in below investors' expectations, as well as comparable store sales.
That was despite the fact that sales were "exceptionally strong" during the college football bowl games, NFL playoffs, and March Madness games, according to Smith.