March Madness

So it's March, and if you're a basketball fan like this Duke grad (Go Blue Devils!), it is a WONDERFUL time of year. I'll most likely be spending the majority of the next few weeks camped in front a TV, bracket in hand, cheering my faves on to the Final Game (Duke/U Conn rematch with Duke coming out on top is my humble prediction this year.)

Go Blue Devils!

I know I'm not alone in this obsession. There are 5 million brackets entered in Yahoo's Tourney Pick 'Em. Last night I watched Duke trounce Binghamton and Villanova beat American from a local pub that was so packed, we could barely hear one another over the cheers from the surrounding tables. No sign of a down economy in that bar--at least not last night.

With so many games on the line and avid sportsfans nationwide vested in the outcomes, the selection of WHERE to watch each game is an important one. This weekend my boyfriend is getting together with a group of guys from his college for a marathon session of basketball watching, nacho eating, and beer drinking. With a group of 10 guys committed to hanging out in a pub for the majority of Friday night, all day Saturday and well into Sunday, there will be quite a decent bar tab to settle up at the end of the weekend. So which local haunt is going to benefit from their March Madness celebration?

Well, considering my house is an EveryScape household, that's where my boyfriend turned to for help with the pub selection. With a few clicks of the mouse, he was able to check the lay of the land at a few local sportsbars for the important things...How many TV's does each place have? What's the table layout? Is it a place that would appreciate 10 "enthusiastic" fans? The winning bar at the end of the day will easily earn themselves a $500 bar tab between food, drinks and tips--and that will just take care of Friday night. If they're the winner for the whole weekend--well, I'm not going to do the math to calculate how much these guys will lay out for a weekend of basketball but let's just say it will be a healthy tab.

When looked at this way, seems like a no-brainer for a restaurant or bar-owner to promote their business in this way. With a single group reservation, the owner could easily earn back their investment for their WebScape. In this economy, when marketing dollars are tight, a WebScape is a tool that pays for itself over and over again.

So what do you think? Are my basketball predictions off the wall? Have you used EveryScape to plan a night out or an event for your friends? Are you a business owner who has used your WebScape to get more customers? I'd love to hear about it.