Miami Bar Capitalizes on Heat Losses

By Ben Haber

March 10th, 2011

At the beginning of the current NBA season, the co-owners of Whiskey Tango (located 20 miles from Miami) decided to make a bet with their customers: if the Miami Heat lost the game, they’d get free drinks for the night.

Kind of.

The actual agreement stipulates that customers must have showed up at the bar at least 30 minutes before the game, and can’t leave until after its over. And the deal doesn’t cover the entire bill – just $25 per person.

In either case, it’s a good deal for the customer (if they’re a Heat fan). They either see the Heat win a game, or they get $25 off their check. The owners originally decided to do this for the first game of the season, but when the deal drew in larger crowds then expected on an opening night loss to the Celtics, they decided to keep it going the entire season.

To-date, the Heat have lost 21 games, and more are expected to come. After $30,000 of discounts on opening night, a recent loss to the Knicks cost the owners $5,600, the largest loss of any one night so far. In total, the owners have paid out $85,000 worth of discounts.

While $85,000 might seem like a big loss, it’s actually a major, major gain. The bar drives in far more people then it would have otherwise for every single Heat game. Additionally, since people have to stay there the entire game (and before), they’re at the bar at least 3 hours. That’s a lot of time to spend money on food and drinks. Also, the &85,000 in drinks that have been given away has actually cost the bar about $30,000. And for that, they’ve been covered by CNBC, ESPN, CNN and more.

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

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