Hooters CEO says March Madness will be a moment of truth for understanding when people will return to bars

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Hooters CEO says March Madness will be a moment of truth for understanding when people will return to bars
When will Hooters Girls once again lose their masks?Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters
  • Hooters CEO Sal Melilli told Business Insider that March Madness will be a "telling piece" of understanding what business will look like in 2021.
  • Melilli said the chain has created multiple scenarios for March Madness, to accommodate different COVID-19-related restaurant rules and outcomes for the tournament itself.
  • Hooters and other chains were forced to radically recalibrate business during the coronavirus pandemic.
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When will we go back to sports bars?

Hooters' CEO says that he is looking to March Madness as a key barometer for when life will return to normal post-COVID-19.

The pandemic has wiped out the experience of crowding into a bar to watch sports. And, with coronavirus cases surging across the US, a new year does not necessarily mean it will be safe - or legal - to return to bars.

"Just because it's January 5th doesn't mean 2020 is behind us and the pandemic is over," Hooters of America Brands CEO Sal Melilli told Business Insider in a recent interview.

Read more: Hooters and Twin Peaks are defying the casual dining sales free fall. Their CEOs explain how the breastaurant chains weathered the pandemic, and are set to thrive in 2021

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Melilli said that March Madness will be a "telling piece" of understanding what business will look like in 2021. Hooters is planning for multiple March Madness scenarios, according to Melilli, depending on if indoor dining is allowed and how the National Collegiate Athletic Association decides to arrange the tournament - if it happens at all.

"As a leader, I'm an optimist to begin with, but we have to have those scenarios in place," Melilli said. "We run scenarios, we run budgets, we run marketing plans."

March Madness 2020 was the moment that the pandemic became 'real' for many Americans

Hooters CEO says March Madness will be a moment of truth for understanding when people will return to bars
Official March Madness 2020 basketballs, prior to the tournament's cancellation.Associated Press

A year ago, canceling March Madness was outside the realm of possibility. The tournament, along with other major sporting events like the Super Bowl, are typically major sales drivers for Hooters and other sports-bar adjacent chains like Twin Peaks.

"We never thought we would see the day when we would cancel March Madness," Twin Peaks CEO Joe Hummel told Business Insider.

Yet, last March, the NCAA did just that. Soon after, all Hooters and Twin Peaks locations were forced to shut down indoor dining, as the US attempted to stop the spread of coronavirus cases across the nation.

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Read more: Leaked document: Top ad agency predicts that cancelled NBA and NCAA events will cost TV networks up to a 25% drop in viewership

Hooters and Twin Peaks doubled down on their to-go and delivery business, in an effort to boost sales in light of shuttered restaurants and capacity limits. Outdoor dining became a way for customers to watch games, with Twin Peaks spending roughly $3.5 million across the system to build out its patios and parking lot business.

Many customers have been eager to return to both Hooters and Twin Peaks as soon as they are able to do so, according to the CEOs. Melilli and Hummel said that they expect to see a surge in customers as restrictions loosen in the coming months, whether that be before or after March Madness.

"We found that our heavy user had the pent up demand," Melilli said. "You usually come to Hooters for the experience. You come to see the Hooter girl, you have the great food."

Read the full story of how CEOs said breastaurant chains weathered the pandemic here.

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