The Gagliardi family has been in the pay-per-view and closed circuit business for 50 years, starting with Joseph Gagliardi. His son, Nick Gagliardi, started G&G Closed Circuit Events in 1999. G&G is the exclusive distributor in the United States for just about every PPV event. In fact, they have been the distributor of HBO Sports and HBO Boxing for commercial use for 20 years, and they have a longstanding relationship with Bellator. When Bellator makes their return to the PPV format, you can rest assured that G&G Closed Circuit Events will have the exclusive rights to their events.
Gagliardi and his team have acquired a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all aspects of PPV events, so we could think of nobody better to explain the process for hosting such promotions, and how to profit from them. Pay-per-view boxing and MMA fans in particular look for venues that will deliver an amazing experience for their favorite events. Become the place to watch these PPV events and you’ll be filling your coffers in no time. Read on for everything you need to know about hosting these money-making promotions.
The Process
You call in and speak with a G&G sales staff member who will ask you:
- your occupancy (fire code capacity or viewing occupancy is required);
- address, contact information, provider, and provider account numbers.
G&G will then:
- provide you with a quote,
- go over the contract, which includes dos and don’ts,
- send out contracts and invoices.
Contracts are used to ensure that both you and G&G are clear about the obligations surrounding PPV events. As an operator, you must do your due diligence, and G&G needs to do theirs as well. This is why it’s vital that you provide them with accurate information, including your certificate of occupancy. Your occupancy is used to place you in the correct pricing tier. It’s critical that you do provide all of this information in a timely manner. The same goes for giving G&G your provider account information so that you can be set up smoothly to host PPV events.
You will:
- fill out the contracts once you have received them,
- send filled out and signed contracts back to G&G,
- and make your payment (G&G accepts credit cards, checks, EFTs, and Western Union Quick Collects).
G&G will, upon receiving the contracts and payment, send out promotional materials, depending on the event. For example:
- Posters;
- Table cards;
- Banners;
- Shirts;
- Coasters.
The next step in the process is promoting the event at your venue, so G&G makes downloadable artwork and promotional images available for use on your social media channels. You need to generate interest in the event being hosted by your establishment. In addition to the materials you will receive, you will also find that G&G sales reps are dedicated to the success of your event. In fact, they’ll make themselves available to you by cell phone pretty much any time of day.
Your account will be activated by G&G with your provider (everything from the major providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast or Time-Warner, to some smaller providers). This lets your provider know that you are good to go with the event you have entered into a contract to host.
As an added bonus, G&G adds your location to the See it Live page on their website. This page gives your potential guests the ability to enter their location and see what venues are hosting the event in which they are interested. Many people also call G&G to find out where they can see PPV events, so this relationship and the list of participating venues that they generate can be incredibly valuable to you.
The final step in the process is confirming your signal on the dedicated event channel. Every provider is, of course, different, but G&G sends their customers confirmations so that they can ensure they will be able to host the event on the dedicated channel at the designated time.
Profit from PPV Events
Social media and websites are vital to the success of your PPV event. Whatever social media channels you’re on, use them to engage with your existing customers and attract new guests to your venue. Your website should make it easy for customers to learn about what’s going on at your establishment, so make sure to use all of the digital resources to which G&G gives you access, i.e., artwork dedicated to the event, videos provided by the organization who owns the event, and articles written to promote a PPV event. Sharing this information and promoting the event effectively helps you to maximize the number of customers who plan watching it at your bar. Along with social media and your website, utilize email and text marketing campaigns. Become known for hosting PPV events and you’ll reach a broader spectrum of guests willing to spend money at your venue.
As powerful as digital media has become, however, print media can still provide you with great ROI. So, G&G encourages you to download the assets they have for each PPV event and print flyers to get the word out. Are you going to offer VIP packages for your events (Note: You should)? Planning dinner and/or beverage packages? Put that on a flyer. Want to offer raffles, giveaways or other special promotions in between rounds? Put that on a flyer. Have other plans to really make your PPV events special and create experiences that will keep your guests coming back for more? Put them on a flyer. Do whatever it takes to sell tickets in advance and pack your bar full of guests.
Print ads are also something to consider; Nick Gagliardi recommends diversifying your marketing efforts in order to maximize their reach. To that point, don’t forget the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Use the promotional materials that G&G provides you so that guests who are already on-site are informed and can tell others about your event.
If you’ve been reading our marketing and promotions articles for a while, you know how to generate interest in your events. If you’re new to using Nightclub & Bar as an educational resource, the following articles a great start:
• 5 Top Tips for Marketing Your Nightclub or Bar
• 3 Types of Content that Get Your Newsletter Read
• Using Content Marketing to Attract Customers & Boost Profits
• APP-solutely the Best: The Apps You Need to Know in 2016
• CRM Systems: The Best Way to Market to Your Audience
Life happens but you really want to avoid ordering events at the last minute if it can be at all helped. Planning ahead can help hosting a PPV event run smoothly. You want to be known as the go-to venue for promotions like these so don’t leave anything to chance and damage your reputation. Gagliardi recommends the following schedule:
A Week Before the Event
- Confirm your TV service provider.
- Confirm your TV account information.
- Have your contract returned to G&G.
- Make your payment.
- Start promoting the event (the sooner you can promote, the better off for your customer, which means more money for you).
A Day Before the Event
- Confirm the broadcast channel. This information is available on the G&G website and emails they send out. You can also call to confirm the channel. Bear in mind that cable is slightly different than PPV and those providers tend to communicate the channel themselves.
- Check the signal to all of your televisions. TVs, boxes and other equipment varies so make sure you’ve tested everything so you don’t have problems during the broadcast.
- Call with any questions you have or technical issues you may encounter. G&G prides themselves in taking care of you as their customer so don’t hesitate to contact them with your questions or issues.
The Day of the Event
- Tune to the channel broadcasting the event.
- Check your signal and equipment again!
- Encounter an issue? Call as soon as possible before the start of the event. Your TV provider may need to be brought in to fix a problem so the sooner you can call, the better.
- Provide an excellent customer experience. Your customers are expecting a top-notch, time-of-their-life experience out at your bar – be on your game!
The G&G Day of the Event Checklist
- Continue to promote the event through social media channels.
- Ensure that the signal is good on all your TVs.
- Reserve your best tables for VIPs and advance reservations (a vital component for providing the ultimate viewing experience).
- Call G&G with any questions.
To listen to and view the "How to Profit with Pay-Per-View Events" webinar in our archives, or to share it with your managers or others, click here.