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Buffalo Wild Wings new March Madness commercial and tournament tracker

By Mike Dyce

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Buffalo Wild Wings is making their restaurant the destination for March Madness fans to watch all the action and have rolled out a new ad campaign starring Steve Rannazzisi from The League.

March Madness is a sports fan’s favorite time of year. Not only are there a plethora of games to watch at any moment, but it allows casual fans to get involved by filling out their brackets, and develop rooting interests.

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There is a lot going on, and Buffalo Wild Wings is making their restaurants the destination to watch all the games. Aside from the walls of televisions to make sure you don’t miss any of the games, B-Dubs has rolled out their Tournament Tracker to help you stay ontop of all the latest information, scores, schedules and any social media conversation throughout the tournament. Going a step further on social media platforms, Buffalo Wild Wings is using #WingWisdom to share unique insights, unexpected March Madness related stats and engaging content leading up to and during the tournament.

“Nowhere is sports more alive than at Buffalo Wild Wings and we wanted to leverage one of the biggest events on the sports calendar to bring our brand to life in new and unexpected ways,” said Bob Ruhland, Vice President of Marketing at Buffalo Wild Wings. “’Wing Wisdom’ represents our attitude, philosophy and brand. This new platform enables us to engage in relevant and meaningful conversations with fans, no matter where they view or talk about sports, with our own unique point of view.”

Ruhland also touts the Tournament Tracker as an outlet for the fans to tell stories involving the games from fan’s perspective. He also sees the Tournament Tracker as aggregator of social media chatter around the moments that matter.

At the restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings will also have specific NCAA tournament themed foods for each region of the tournament. To represent the East B-Dubs has The New Yorker sandwich and Sam Adams Boston Lager; for the West, Chicken Flatbread and Sam Adams Rebel IPA; for the South, the Bayou Po Boy and Fried Pickles; and for the Midwest, Buffalo Mac & Cheese.

Of course if you’re having a hard time getting away from work to join your friends and watch the games, B-Dubs has you covered there with an interactive video that will provide tips and advice to show how fans can “call in (not) sick” so they can watch the first round of games. This will be available on “Selection Sunday,” March 15th.

A fan not watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings is actually the premise of their first ad, starring Steve Rannazzisi from The League. A friend invites him over for delivery and some of the games and Rannazzisi responds perfectly with a bit of sarcasm, almost like his character from the show, which makes him a natural fit for the campaign.

“An indiviudal who could be genuine and authentic,” Ruhland told FanSided when asked why Rannazzisi was chosen. Ruhland noted that Rannazzisi is a rabid basketball fan and praised him for his ability to improv and bring his own spin to the story telling.

The “Pizza to Your Home” ad debuts March 7 and is the first in a series of nine episodic ads that will rollout throughout the tournament. Additional ads will show you the proper way to fill out a tournament bracket and cover the NCAA Sweet 16®, bandwagon fans, overtime, and the finals.

If you’re lucky enough to be at the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Indianapolis, you won’t miss out on the Buffalo Wild Wings experience everyone at home will be enjoying. The NCAA® Division I Men’s Championship trophy will make the rounds of the local B-Dubs for fans to take pictures with.

Aside from the local restuarants, there will be a Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Lounge at the March Madness Music Festival and Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One®. You can partake in the Blazin’ Challenge® wing eating contests on stage or sit back and enjoy some Game Changer Ale while watching the main act on stage and the Final Four coverage on flat-screen TVs.

With Buffalo Wild Wings helping fans enjoy March Madness to the fullest and sponsorship of the Citrus Bowl, the tie college athletics is there. Ruhland says it is all about the company’s roots.

“We started right next door to the Ohio State campus, and I think we’ve always had a soft spot for college athletics,” Ruhland said. “Professional sports are great, and I consider myself a great fan, I think the purity of college athletics is something that we totally agree with. We like to live life by the rules of the games and college athletics is really something that resonates well with us.”

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