Tech, Trivia, and Texas Hold’em – Buzztime LIVE™ merges latest in tablet technology with live gaming events for bar and restaurant owners
CARLSBAD, Calif. – July 16, 2014 – Today NTN Buzztime (NYSEMKT:NTN) is announcing the attainment of a major milestone: 5 million player registrations on the company’s digital gaming platform, representing approximately 70 percent growth over the past year. Additionally, Buzztime is announcingthat they have integrated Buzztime LIVE gaming events with their BEOND™ platform (Buzztime Entertainment on Demand) and introduced the new on-demand OpinioNation LIVE™ game.
The BEOND platform, enabled on tablets and smartphones, is widely available in restaurants and bars across the country and is being rolled out to all Buffalo Wild Wings locations nationwide, as well as to other independent and chain locations.
“We build Buzztime products in order to provide real solutions for our customers. Our growing suite of on-demand Buzztime LIVE games are designed to attract new crowds. Now, by integrating these games with the BEOND platform, we are bridging the gap between the tech world and the hospitality industry to help our clients take their businesses to the next level,” said Buzztime’s Chief Development Officer, Vladimir Edelman.
The company tapped into its 30 years of experience in delivering in-venue entertainment to develop the new on-demand OpinioNation LIVE game, a unique socially competitive game for bars and restaurants which challenges players to guess the most popular answers to fun, lighthearted questions from surveys conducted across the country. OpinioNation LIVE is a team-based interactive game that appeals to a broader and younger audience because it is not knowledge-dependent like trivia.
Buzztime LIVE games, including Texas Hold’em LIVE™, Trivia LIVE™ and now OpinioNation LIVE, are available to all customers, free of charge on the Buzztime LIVE gaming platform. With the integration of Buzztime LIVE gaming events, patrons can attend a growing variety of scheduled or spontaneous events any night of the week to compete with friends and other teams and win prizes. The BEOND platform delivers the interactive game play via seven-inch touchscreen tablets – portable enough to be passed from team member to team member and large enough for several people to view the game on the screen. Players and patrons can also follow along on the venue’s TV screens.
Revenue Generators for Bars & Restaurants
Buzztime’s suite of LIVE games provides a solution for bars and restaurants on slow weekday nights – helping establishments “Make Tuesday the New Friday™”.
“Bottom line numbers don’t lie, and we’ve seen an increase in sales. Tuesday nights alone have increased by 30 percent,” said Steve McKinney, General Manager at JR’s Pub, an independent eatery in South Carolina. Just one month after implementing Buzztime’s new BEOND tablets at the venue, McKinney saw a 110 percent increase in overall gameplay.
Now, with the integration of Buzztime LIVE on the tablets, bars and restaurants have another way to increase revenue and bring in new customers on slow nights. The hosted social games also give existing customers a reason to come back.
While the restaurant industry is expected to hit record high sales of $683.4 billion this year, studies reported by the National Restaurant Association project overall gains will remain lower than expected due to a range of post-recession challenges. With flexible options for hosting interactive social gatherings, Buzztime believes its LIVE games are ideal for bars and restaurants in need of a boost.
How Buzztime LIVE Games Work
Buzztime’s customers can create and organize their own impactful LIVE events, driving new crowds and return traffic to their venues on traditionally slow nights. The LIVE games available include:
- Trivia LIVE: Teams compete in categories like pop culture and sports while the know-it-alls show it all.
- Hold‘em LIVE: Venue TVs become live poker tables while players use the tablets to hold ‘em or fold ‘em.
- OpinioNation LIVE: The newest game invites teams of patrons to correctly guess fellow Americans’ responses to amusing survey questions.
Patrons attending live event nights will find Buzztime tablets at their tables – they can enter their answers using the tablet or their own smartphone via the free Buzztime Mobile Playmaker app, available for iOS and Android.
Bar and restaurant owners can choose how they’d like to operate their Buzztime LIVE events. Pro-hosted events are organized and run by a hired professional host. Self-hosted events are initiated by venue employees, owners or enthusiastic local patrons.
Once the venue selects a game, date for the event, and hosting option, Buzztime will provide tools to help the bar or restaurant promote their events, including on-screen advertising, in-venue collateral, social media tips, and other resources such as training materials.
Capitalizing on America’s Obsession with Games
Trivia, card games, and board games continue to dominate the type of games played most often by Americans, according to the Electronics Software Association(ESA). Buzztime LIVE is a way for bars and restaurants to benefit from America’s obsession with games by bringing live versions of their most popular titles to their customers. ESA research shows how popular social games are: 62 percent of gamers play with others, either in-person or online, and 77 percent who play with others do so at least one hour per week. With Buzztime LIVE, restaurant and bar owners can make a play to capture some of the time Americans spend playing games and customers can enjoy their dining experience even more.
“The hospitality industry is ripe for innovation in digital gaming and Buzztime is in a prime position to pave the way, given their decades of experience in the space,” said Michael Cai, Senior Vice President of Games and Digital for Interpret LLC. “Buzztime is providing a much-needed technology solution so bars and restaurants can capitalize on the popularity of social gaming and the live events sweeping the nation.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.buzztime.com/business/tablet/entertainment/trivia/live-trivia/
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management’s current views of future events and operations, including but not limited to statements about our product and platform development and availability, new agreement(s), long term value, customer platforms, improved customer satisfaction and the number of locations, players and games. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the risks of unsuccessful execution or launch of products, platforms or brands, the impact of alternative entertainment options and technologies and competitive products, brands, technologies and pricing, adverse economic conditions, failure of customer and/or player acceptance or demand for new or existing products, lower market acceptance or appeal of both existing and new products and services by particular demographic groups or audiences as a whole, and technical problems or outages. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.’s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.