Big sporting events boost customer engagement and satisfaction for Buffalo Wild Wings, and this summer’s World Cup sparked the company’s impressive second-quarter financial performance.
For the period ended June 29, 2014, total revenue for Buffalo Wild Wings rose 20%, to $366 million. Company-owned restaurant sales grew 20.2%, to $343.1 million, while same-store sales jumped 7.7% at company-owned restaurants and 6.5% at franchised restaurants.
What’s more, net earnings increased nearly 44%, to $23.7 million, from $16.5 million.
Sally Smith, President and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, said same-store sales were strong during the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four and continued through the NBA and NHL playoffs.
“We love it when playoff series have games extended into overtime,” Smith noted during the company’s second-quarter financial results conference call. “With the 2014 World Cup, we had an opportunity to showcase the brand and capture sales from the growing U.S. soccer audience. We marketed Buffalo Wild Wings on radio, and so digital media had some place to catch the action, we created soccer team games, and the free kick challenge was played over 320,000 time.”
Smith added: “Our restaurant teams delivered the ultimate soccer experience together during the World Cup. Sales during the tournament were robust contributing 100 basis points to our company-owned same-store sales increased for the quarter. Our cost of sales percentage was lower than last year primarily driven by a decrease in the price per pound for a traditional chicken wings.”
For the first four weeks of the third quarter, Smith said same-store sales checked in at 8.2% at company-owned restaurants and 7.4% at franchised locations.
Smith is very excited about the upcoming football season.
“Looking ahead, we are preparing for our favorite time of the year, football season,” she said. “Buffalo Wild Wings is the best place to host your fantasy football draft party and to watch all the games with friends. We believe that draft parties kick off a great football season at Buffalo Wild Wings. We’re very pleased with our sales momentum in the first seven months of 2014. We are investing for long-term growth and delivering impressive net earnings growth to Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders. Based on our year-to-date performance, our current same-store sales trends, and anticipated food costs and labor expense, we believe net earnings growth will exceed 25% for 2014, and could reach 30%."
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Buffalo Wild Wings currently has more than 1,025locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.