For a sports bar to succeed, it needs to attract customers when there’s no major sports event airing.
Hospitality expert and “Bar Rescue” host Jon Taffer has argued that sports bars cannot rely on game-day traffic alone because major sporting events only drive business a limited number of days each year.
“Sporting events only fill the bar 70 days a year, so you need to have great food and emulate the energy of the game,” he told Sports Illustrated.
That’s a simple lesson that many sports bar operators haven’t learned, and it has driven once-thriving chain Champps Kitchen + Bar to the brink.
From more than 60 locations nationwide, Champps has shrunk to just a handful of restaurants following years of bankruptcies, ownership changes, and store closures. Recent franchise filings indicate the brand may now have as few as three locations remaining.
Champps closes another location
Champps has closed its location at Eastview Mall in New York after 20 years. The mall’s owners made it clear that they wanted the sports bar operator to stay.
“We tried to get Champps to stay; it was entirely their decision to leave. We did not raise their rent. We understand that this was one of the last Champps in the country still operating, so although we do not want to see them leave, we anticipated the closing of Champps. We have been actively pursuing a replacement, but cannot announce anything at this time,” the mall’s owners told Rochester’s News 8.
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Champps is owned by San Diego-based Fun Eats and Drinks LLC, which also owns the pub chain Fox & Hound. Fun Eats and Drinks acquired Fox & Hound and Champps for $26.8 million in 2017 after its former owner, Last Call Guarantor LLC, filed for bankruptcy. Last Call acquired the chain in 2007 from Champps Entertainment Inc.
The company’s LinkedIn page claims that it operates 55 restaurants across all its brands.
Champps struggles while Chili’s thrives
Chili’s has been one of the biggest success stories in recent restaurant history.
The contrast between Chili’s and Champps highlights a challenge facing many sports bars. Consumers increasingly choose restaurants that offer everyday value rather than concepts built around occasional events.
“When we analyze the recent explosive success of Brinker International’s Chili’s and the unstoppable momentum of Texas Roadhouse, a clear pattern emerges. The winners aren’t just selling cheap food. They are selling a seamless, digitally enabled price-to-experience ratio that the rest of the market is struggling to match,” according to Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN).
Chili’s broken out from the pack by having a clear message that spoke to consumers looking for value.
“Chili’s didn’t just win by offering the ‘3 For Me’ deal; they won by making it their identity,” NRN reported. “…Brinker flipped the script by simplifying the menu and focusing their marketing firepower on a single, permanent value tier. They marketed consistency over novelty.”
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Champps has been declining for years
While many restaurant chains trace their struggles to the Covid pandemic, Champps has been struggling for much longer than that.
The company’s former CEO Mike O’Donnell commented on its decision to close multiple restaurants back in 2006 in an SEC filing.
“The closure of these three restaurants represents our ongoing commitment to improving the Company’s overall real estate mix and exiting locations not meeting our operating cash flow objectives. We believe the underperformance at these locations is a result of inefficient site selection,” he said.
At the time, the company explained how it was evaluating its portfolio.
“The ultimate decision to close these locations came after management considered various factors including, without limitation, levels and direction of revenues and cash flows, landlord negotiations, and other exit cost considerations,” it shared in the filing.
Champps has been slowly closing locations since its peak in the early 2000s when it operated over 60 restaurants, a number confirmed by an SEC filing.
The chain’s decline has been a slow attrition with no mass closure event. Instead, locations have simply shut their doors based on each individual operating situation.
“We regret to inform you that this location has permanently closed. With the difficult last couple of years and uncertain future due, we unfortunately had no other option. We are sad to lose this location and thank the countless staff and guests who have made our restaurant feel like home throughout the years,” the company shared when it closed a Michigan location in 2023.
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