The Olympic games are coming up fast and although I know most people aren’t getting ready to compete a lot of you will be getting ready to watch. This year promises to be a very different year, with things the Russia doping scandal possibly blowing a whole range of events wide open. We could have some really unexpected winners this year which could in turn, get the general public excited for team GB in events they never even knew about! With this in mind is your business ready for the games? 
The Olympic games in Bars and Pubs
If you work in / own a bar or pub you don’t need me to tell you that sport can be a big draw. Many of you might have even invested in new projectors and screens for the football, we even wrote an article about tech in bars a few weeks ago! For those of you who haven’t upgraded think of just who the Olympic games can bring in if you make it a real focus of your events. If you are a child friendly place you probably notice that during the football, things can get a bit… not child friendly. But with the Olympics you get a range of pretty big games that don’t have such a “lad” ethos around them. Tennis, cycling, swimming and many other sports have their own dedicated fan bases in this country, each with personalities you know and recognise. This can be a big draw for families who want to share their love of these sports with their children, without having to worry about the rowdy fans that you often think of when you think “football bar”. The events are also on at a wide range of times. This gives you more options, letting you try out these events at quiet times to bring in new custom without causing problems for your regulars. For instance if you have a full day of cycling events then you can target local cycling groups. It could bring in a whole new customer base that might never have thought of you as their go-to local, and who knows, they might even change some of their routes so your become a regular stop for them in the future.
The Olympic games in Restaurants
Much like bars and pubs you know just how rowdy football matches can make a place. This often puts a “formal” restaurant off trying to host sports events, or even stops them installing TV’s, thinking that they will turn the place into a lads club or pub. Sometimes it helps to think of your restaurant as an “event space” rather than just a place to eat. At certain times of the day, on certain days of the week even the best restaurant will be quiet, and at those times that “empty space” isn’t working for you. Pairing up a big Olympic games event with your slowest time, can really have an impact on your bottom line and turn a below average day into the highlight of your month. I’m not suggesting you turn your whole place into a sports bar, but if you know there is a swimming team in the area, why not promote a team GB swimming night one day after their class finishes? If you have a local dance school why not get people excited about the athletics or the vaulting? Something like a projector screen is easily put into the ceiling and gives that room a real advantage for hosting a range of things (not just showing sports). Playing a slide show of all the wedding photos, putting up silly images for the best mans-speech, all the little things that can make or break a day. These are what will make people think of you the next time they want to host a big event. Ultimately investing in your tech gives you more options, and options make you more profitable in the long run.
The Olympic games for everyone else
Are you a florist? Then a write a post about team GB, have an image of one of the winners holding a bouquet on the podium “because every day is more special with flowers”. Are you a night club? Well have theme night based on the Rio carnival to kick off the Olympic games and bring people in on a quiet Tuesday. Are you an AV company, then write an article telling people about how promoting the Olympic Games can help their business. The thing is each big event can bring people to you, remember just how big London 2012 was and think “what will it be like this year?” we won’t get the same level of excitement this year and I think we all know that, hosting the games is different it makes the whole county that much more involved. But that game got so many people into events they didn’t even know about, and this year some people will be really excited. The question is, can you show people your excited too?