7 Sports Bar Interior Design Tips

By Sina Sadeghpour, Contributor

Sports bars are supposed to offer their guests and fans an experience and atmosphere that is as close and exciting the live event itself. They should enjoy everything from cheering their favorite teams and meeting and socializing with other fans to the drinks and food on your menu.

In that light, an exceptional interior design and fitout should go a long way in enhancing the popularity of a sports bar. Before getting down to the basics of sports bar design and decor, the first thing that should always be top of mind when making decisions is the guest experience. A sports bar operator’s main goal should always be customer’s enjoyment of everything offered. And that includes the design of the sports bar.

Getting Started with Your Sports Bar’s Design

When designing the interior of your sports bar, you should get inspiration from other  popular bars in or near the city where your bar is located. As you go from one bar to the other, you will realize that the visual appearance is the first thing that will make you decide whether or not you are interested in their business.

While visiting the different sports bars, pay attention to the designs that stand out to you. Keep a logbook of the designs with a memorable appearance and use them to spark your creativity as your design your bar. What do you love about their design? What did you notice first? What did you dislike? All this is useful info when it comes to designing or redesigning your sports bar.

Keep in mind that you’ve got to come up with a unique design that should be appealing to your targeted guests – you definitely don’t want to copy designs from other bars.

Don’t forget to study the names of every bar that you visit and how each name connects to the targeted customers. While at it, try to come up with creative names that the fans and guests you intend to serve can relate to.

Picking Your Sports Bar’s Theme

This is, without doubt, one of the most important factors to pay attention to when designing a bar. The theme of your sports bar will be the one to determine crucial aspects such as the most appropriate colors for the décor, as well as the memorabilia that will be displayed on the walls. It should also be closely tied to your bar’s brand.

The inspiration you sought from the most popular bars will go a long way in helping you create the perfect theme for your sports bar. It should be a theme that’s interesting to your target audience.

A good rule of thumb is that the name, theme, and layout of your bar should blend together to create a high level of interest from your targeted guests. For example, if your sports bar is near a stadium, it’s a good idea to choose a display of colors and memorabilia that relates to the team.

Instead of paintings or interesting wallpaper, opt for sports and team memorabilia that tell a story about your bar’s history, team/sport loyalty, and the experience you offer. You can exhibit a mixture of framed equipment such as bats, posters of legendary players, new clippings, and anything else that closely relates to the team of your choosing.

Since televised sports are the central attraction in a sports bar, you must deliver a good visual and auditory experience to your customers. Be sure to use large screen high-definition TVs with an obstructed viewing experience from any seat. On top of that, the sound equipment you chose should be of a high quality to ensure that your customers get the best sound experience.

It’s also important to make sure your guests never miss a second of a game because your team is having trouble finding it. The SportsTV Guide helps take this pressure off and makes finding the game a breeze for your staff.

Choose Comfortable Lighting

You more than likely know that lighting has a great potential to enhance your sports bar design. The trick is in ensuring that you pick the most appropriate light setup for the ambiance you want to achieve.

In the majority of cases, you can use soft lighting to help your guests feel at ease every time they walk into the bar. You, however, shouldn’t make the mistake of making them feel too relaxed to the point where they spend their money at a lower rate.

In that light, you should engage them using music or live game audio that is appropriate for the theme of your business. Combining the right lighting scheme with the perfect playlists gives your customers an experience that keeps them alert so that they won’t only desire to stay longer, but also spend more.

Incorporate Ergonomic Features

Sports bar operators should employ ergonomic features where applicable to enhance safety and comfort in their bar. The bar top, shelves, and drink rails should all have a comfortable height for ease of use beit-mirkahat.com.

The sitting areas should also be comfortable in addition to having extra ergonomic features where applicable. That way, your guests can sit longer without feeling exhausted.

Enhance Better Service & Safety

While the main focus is on ensuring that customers enjoy the experience at your sports bar, it’d be hard to achieve such a goal without making it easy for your staff to serve. As such, there should be enough space in the bar to ensure undivided attention to service.

Besides, you can’t risk having a situation where bartenders may trip over stool legs or any other piece of furniture that can get in their way. Generally, the space available in the bar should be large enough for the customers to gather, while also allowing for easy management and traversing by your staff.

Focus on Sports TV & Entertainment

The concept of a sports bar is that of a neighborhood pub. That means your main focus is on creating an inviting environment for your local sports fans and other guests. That way, the customers will not only enjoy the experience but will also want to return whenever they need to be entertained.

With that in mind, operators should incorporate a variety of game equipment such as pool tables, air hockey tables, and any other equipment that will enhance interactions between the customers. Ensuring that your bar offers an inviting and fun ambiance encourages your guests to purchase more and stick around longer.

Don’t Forget the Entrance

Your efforts to enhance your sports bar design won’t yield the expected results if you forget to create an inviting entrance to the business. In truth, a good entrance goes a long way towards giving your prospective customers an idea about the customer experience at your sports bar.

For this reason, you want the entrance to be upbeat and engaging. It should also be comfortable so that anyone who’s waiting for a table won’t get impatient. Use great lighting, plants, artwork, and even statues to create the right tone. This approach will give your guests an idea of the thrilling experience they’re about to receive.

Summing Up

There is quite a lot you could do to the design of your sports bar to ensure that you are ahead of the competition. Every design concept and addition should be geared towards achieving greater customer satisfaction and improved service.

Keep in mind that a fun experience will undoubtedly make customers recommend your bar to others. By making your customers happy, you’ll be benefiting your business through word-of-mouth advertising from people that your prospective customers can trust.