Tom’s Watch Bar co-CEO Brooks Schaden on elevating the sports bar

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Brooks Schaden, cofounder and co-CEO of Tom’s Watch Bar, a sports-bar concept with 13 locations that is capitalizing on the rising demand for more experience entertainment. This brand is out to reinvent the sports-bar category by elevating its food and beverage offering and focusing growth on what Brooks called “gravities of traffic,” notably urban districts with event-oriented foot traffic like arenas, convention centers, and casinos. He joined the podcast to talk about why the old standard for sports bars just doesn’t cut it anymore and how Tom’s Watch Bar is building its own fan club through a fun and distinct experience.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to launch a successful concept
Customers want way more than the local sports team on your TVs
The sports bar customer isn’t who you think it is
There is big traffic potential in “gravities of traffic”…
…but those gravities require a totally different playbook on service, marketing, and ops

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ready to level up your menu?
0:02.0	Samazon's new organic, scoopable assayee is designed to fit perfectly into a one-third gold pan.
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0:14.0	Learn more at samazon.com slash food service.
0:18.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Okas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:22.9	I am Sam Okis, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:27.5	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:31.5	This week, I'm talking with Brooks Shadden, the co-founder and co-CEO of Tom's Watchbar, a sports bar concept with 13 locations
0:40.4	that is capitalizing on the rising demand for more experience entertainment.
0:45.8	Tom's watchbar has some really impressive pedigree behind it, as co-founders Rick Shadden and
0:52.0	Tom Ryan also founded Smashburger, while co-CEO
0:56.1	Shannon McNeil is a former executive with Texas Roadhouse and other major restaurant
1:01.0	companies.
1:01.9	The brand is out to reinvent the sports bar category by elevating its food and beverage
1:06.6	and by offering or excuse me and by focusing growth on what Brooks calls
1:11.1	gravities of traffic notably urban districts with event-oriented foot traffic like
1:16.4	arenas, convention centers, and casinos. Brooks joined the podcast to talk about why the old
1:21.7	standard for sports bars just isn't cutting it anymore and how Tom's watch bar is building its
1:27.3	own fan club through a fun and distinct experience.
1:31.1	In this interview, you will learn more about why you don't need to reinvent the wheel to launch a successful concept,
1:36.6	why the sports bar customer isn't who you think it is, and why these gravities of traffic
1:41.5	require a totally different playbook on service, marketing,
	...

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