Even at its most basic element, the SportsTV Guide was built to make you and your staff’s work shift easier. It’s built to take both a mental and physical workload off of your shoulders, so you can get back to serving guests and running your business.

When a guest asks for a particular game, no longer does your staff have to fumble with the remote and crawl through hundreds of stations to find it. They can find the game quickly and easily, so your guests can enjoy the game and your staff can get back to more important tasks.

But are you getting as much as you can out of your STVG subscription? We’re gonna go over eight STVG features that’ll further customize your guide, communicate with your staff, and market to guests.

Pick Your Favorite Teams and Sports

Sports fans at a sports bar watching football on TV

More likely than not, you’ll want to find TV listings for your bar’s favorite teams and sports – such as hometown teams and games for any fan clubs you regularly host. You can do this with just a few clicks.

Under ‘Customized Listings’, click ‘Favs/Q Score.’ Scroll down a little and you’ll be able to choose your favorite leagues and teams. This will bring those games to the top of your daily guide, so you and your staff can easily find the games both you and your guests want to watch.

Filter Out the Games You’re Not Interested In

Three bored and disappointed soccer fans watching a game at a sports bar.

It’s ok to not want to show every sport under the sun. And if that’s the case for your sports bar, it makes sense you don’t need that info in your daily guide. You can filter games out of your STVG with just a few clicks.

Under ‘Customized Listings’, click ‘Settings,’ and then ‘Choose Channels.’ From here, you’ll be able to suppress games you’re not interested in by:

  • Language
  • Gender
  • Sport

This will help your team find listings for the just the games you are interested in showing.

Embed Your Schedule onto Your Site with the STVG Web Widget

A computer on a person's desks displaying the SportsTV Guide Web Widget embedded on a sports bars website

Your website is often your sports bar’s first impression with potential new guests. It’s also one of the spots your regulars will go to get news of what’s happening at your bar. You can show both that you’re serious about sports by listing what games you plan on showing with a schedule on your website.

The STVG Web Widget allows you to embed your schedule directly onto your website with a small code. It updates automatically and displays two weeks worth of games you can show, so your guests know when they should swing by your location to watch.

The widget is free with your STVG subscription and is customized to your profile, meaning it’ll only list the games and sports you can show based on your content providers and preferred sports. Here’s a video on how to embed the STVG Web Widget onto your site.

Use the Notes Feature

Sample of the SportsTV Guide notes feature

One of our new features, the Note feature allows you to leave short notes next to game listings (up to 10 characters), plus color coded and/or bolded. This is great for leaving short notes to you staff (or your future self) on particular games, such as what TV to display the game on.

Some examples:

  • TV10 for putting it on the TV with that name. Use your own naming convention.
  • Ignore if you want your team to not show the game.
  • PPD if you find out a game is rained out.
  • Fan Club if you have a fan club showing up to watch the game.
  • Audio if you want to pump that game’s audio through your speaks and not others.

You get the idea! How you use this feature is only limited by the characters and your creativity.

Market the Games on Your Screens with the STVG for Digital Signage

Group of sports fans looking at a TV that is displaying The SportsTV Guide for Digital Signage on it, listing what games the sports bar is showing next.

Guests are visiting your sports bar for one reason – to watch sports! And that means their eyes will be glued to your TVs. Instead of letting those eyes go to advertisers, why not promote what games you’re going to show?

The STVG for Digital Signage lets you show up to six games on a schedule expression directly to your screens. You can from choose three, animated designs and then customize it with your logo, branded colors, and a short title to grab attention. The expression automatically updates, so you can put your mental effort into other important tasks.

Use the Q Score

Screengrab of what the SportsTV Guide Q Score looks like, filtered by highest Q Score

The Q Score is another one of our latest STVG features and it’s meant to take some mental workload off of your plate by telling you what the best games of the day are.

If your bar or restaurant employs anyone that isn’t really interested in sports (from a manager to your entire front of the house team), this feature will help them identify the best matchups for viewing at your location.

All events are “Q” rated on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the more exciting the matchup. We use a variety of factors to determine the score, including rating the value of specific sports and where applicable the leagues that play them. But equally valuable to these determinations are your preferences for specific teams.

To enable Q Score on your daily guide, click ‘Favs/Q Score’ under ‘Customize Listings’ and then check the ‘Enable Q Score’ box.

You can also set your guide so any game with a pre-determined minimum Q Score automatically appears as a favorite. For example, any game with a Q Score over 95 will appear under your Favorites section of your daily guide, along with games for your favorite teams, helping you compile the best games to show your guests. You would just need to put in “95” in the ‘Minimum Q Score Value’ box to make that happen.

Check the Streaming Tab

eSports players on a TV at a local sports bar

Not all games are going to be on traditional TV and cable stations. There are a lot of gems to be found on streaming services, so be sure to check out the Streaming Events tab to see what games you can show from various streaming and OTT services.

Here you’ll find games, matches, and events available only streaming, such as major eSports events.

Turn Digital into Physical

Printed copy of the SportsTV Guide on a bar top next to a beer bottle, mug of ale, and bottle caps.

We deliver the SportsTV Guide via email every day, so you can hop on your computer and see every listing available to you. But the STVG doesn’t have to remain digital only. You can print out a clean PDF version of your custom guide by clicking the ‘Print Guide’ on the right hand side of your guide. This will let you leave physical copies around your venue for quicker access to staff.

Places to consider leaving physical copies of your guide:

  • Behind the bar. No doubt, your bartenders are asked to put on a particular game or match a lot. Leaving a copy of the STVG at their workstation will mean they can find and get the game on the TV faster.
  • At your AV control. If you have a lot of TVs, you may have a single control center that controls all of your TVs around your restaurant. Leaving a physical copy of the STVG here will make it easier for your staff to find game info.
  • At the bar/tables. You may even consider leaving a few physical copies for your guests to look at, too. This will let them know exactly what games are available to them to watch at your bar.

 

We’ll continue to strive to make your sports bar better by making your life easier – everything from turning on the games to marketing your business. If there are features you’d love to see, let us know. We have some already in the works that we’re excited to share!

If you’re not an STVG subscriber yet, you can get a two-week long free trial by signing up here.