Restaurant & Beverage Stocks Score with NFL

The NFL brings in hundreds of millions in profits every season. It is an economic powerhouse, and many peripheral companies stand to benefit during each NFL season.

And food and beverage companies gain the most from this craze. Restaurant operators from Seattle to Miami rolled out a slew of promotions spanning the next five months to attract guests and boost traffic.

In fact, the NFL is the lifeline of the restaurant industry during the autumn and winter months, especially with the promotions associated with the local football team. As football fans gather with their friends to watch the games, the local restaurants enjoy a field day.

And no one knows it better than Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. RRGB. The restaurateur recently teamed up with the Seattle Seahawks to offer a season-long promotion at its participating restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Red Robin re-launched the Tavern Double Tuesday, which rewards guests with free food when Seattle Seahawks makes a set number of touchdowns or interceptions.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. BWLD is another restaurant operator that “lives, breathes, eats, and drinks football.” The restaurateur has reportedly launched five TV advertisements, with one featuring NFL legend Emmitt Smith and another with former NFL coach Bill Cowher for the 2015–16 football season.

Buffalo Wild Wings has once again created fantasy football party kits, in partnership with PepsiCo. and the NFL. These kits include mock draft boards, player stickers and food coupons. Customers who pre-schedule fantasy football parties at the restaurant or order takeaways worth $100 get these kits for free. Buffalo Wild Wings’ restaurants will also reportedly have early access to the “Madden 16” football video game from Electronic Arts Inc.’s EA and allow fans to play the game at its restaurants.

To ensure a great football experience, Buffalo Wild Wings will have Guest Experience Captains in charge of giving away special samples of limited-time offers and switching on TV broadcasts of games as requested by guests.

Another restaurant cashing in on this football buzz is Papa John's International Inc. PZZA. Papa John’s is the official pizza partner of the NFL for the fourth successive season. Papa John’s is also the official pizza partner of February’s Super Bowl 50. The company recently added another elite NFL athlete — J.J. Watt — as a brand spokesperson along with Peyton Manning to appear in its commercials to be aired during the football season. The restaurateur will also be offering two-topping pizza for only $10 and add a Double Chocolate Chip Brownie for just $6, from Aug 24 through Sep 27.

As the restaurants gear up to boost sales this NFL season, some large beverage companies are not lagging behind.

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP boasts a steady relationship with the NFL and sponsors the “Pepsi Rookie of the Year” award. Further, Tostitos is “The Official Chip of the NFL.” In fact, in 2012, the beverage giant agreed to a 10-year extension of its old sponsorship deal with the NFL. The $2.3 billion agreement guarantees that PepsiCo brands including Gatorade, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker Oats will be the official marketing partners of the NFL through the 2022 playoffs.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV BUD also stands to win with its Bud Light, the official beer of the NFL. In August, the company launched NFL team-specific cans at retail shops across the U.S. bearing scroll messages of 28 NFL teams. This promotional bid is expected to make the Belgium-based beer company a hit among fans of the respective teams.

So if your team disappoints this season, make sure to check out these stocks, which we believe will be the reason to cheer this NFL season!

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BUFFALO WLD WNG (BWLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
PEPSICO INC (PEP): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
RED ROBIN GOURM (RRGB): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
PAPA JOHNS INTL (PZZA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ANHEUSER-BU ADR (BUD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ELECTR ARTS INC (EA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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