Picture this: It's a packed Thursday night, and a customer asks your staff to turn on "the game." But which game? The local college matchup? The NFL showdown? Your bartender is now stuck scrolling through an endless channel guide trying to figure it out while juggling drink orders and managing tabs.
Sound familiar? In an era of increasingly complex sports schedules, making sure the right game is on the right TV screen at the right time can be a major challenge.
That's why DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS® and BYOD™ Inc. are introducing a new AI-powered solution with GameMaster, a sports scheduling platform designed specifically for multi-TV hospitality environments.
Sports Tech That Solves a Real Operational Pain Point
GameMaster was born from what its creators describe as a long-standing operational problem: restaurant managers relying on printed schedules or generic web listings to try to keep track of the games their customers want to watch. For multi-location operators, that friction multiplies across every establishment, every shift and every weekend. It represents both a staff and customer pain point, especially for establishments whose goal is to become the ultimate local sports viewing destination in the community.
"GameMaster was built to integrate seamlessly with DIRECTV—the leader in sports for business—to help bars and restaurants use the power of AI to get the right game on the right screen at the right time," said Dave Dittenber, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BYOD. "DIRECTV is really helping businesses take customer satisfaction to the next level. Our app allows operators to streamline their entertainment offerings and focus on what their customers want to see throughout the day, which is a win for all."
GameMaster Does the Heavy Lifting
GameMaster is an innovative, fully digital tool that analyzes live sports programming data along with local and regional preferences to automatically create a customized daily schedule for every TV screen in your establishment. And setup is easy. Go live with GameMaster in minutes – not hours – without any additions to your existing restaurant hardware.
Once configured, GameMaster uses artificial intelligence to automatically tailor schedules by location, sport, time zone, date, season and local team preferences, resulting in a custom-tailored "set-it-and-forget-it" sports program that ensures your priority games are always on. When a game is about to start, your staff receive real-time alerts telling them exactly which channel to tune in to on the appropriate TV so they can act on it in seconds and get back to business serving customers.
GameMaster also enables consistent execution across your entire portfolio, meaning regional preferences can be customized per location while maintaining operational efficiency at the corporate level.
"Your bartenders and servers are experts at hospitality, not sports broadcasting. With GameMaster, your staff can stay focused on service and your customers can relax and enjoy the game," said Doug Eichler, Senior Vice President, DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS. "GameMaster complements our existing DIRECTV Sports Schedule and serves as an enterprise solution for national and regional chains, allowing them to program the perfect sports mix for each location aligning with the specific interests of their clientele."
Select DIRECTV customers have already begun utilizing GameMaster's tailored scheduling capabilities to create a dynamic atmosphere that aligns with local sports preferences—something that can foster a loyal customer base and ultimately help drive repeat visits.
Getting in the Game
Once your bar or restaurant has configured GameMaster to reflect your brand's sports strategy, you can amplify the impact with game-day activation strategies that drive revenue, including themed food and drink specials tied to big matchups, coordinated pre-game and halftime promotions across locations, and social media campaigns that broadcast game schedules to followers in each market.
Ready to transform your sports viewing experience? Learn more about how DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS and GameMaster can help you score big with sports fans year-round. Contact Jim Grandahl, National Accounts, DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS at james.grandahl@directv.com.
This post is sponsored by DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS® National Accounts