Buffalo Wild Wings Blames Sluggish Sales On NFL Season’s Late Start

Did you notice something different about the first week of September this year — perhaps a noticeable lack of wings sauce covering your fingers? Sports eatery Buffalo Wild Wings wasn’t able to score as much in the third quarter, blaming its lack of customers on the late start to the NFL season.

The chain reported $455.5 million in sales this week, which is off from the $466.8 million expected by analysts, sending shares diving by as much as 18%. This, because the professional football season started on Sept. 10 instead of Sept. 4 as it did in 2014, Buffalo Wild Wings said on an earnings call reported by Business Insider.

Where there are football fans, there are piles of chicken wing bones and full cash registers, something Buffalo Wild Wings says was a major contributor to its less-than-stellar third quarter sales, along with food and labor costs.

“If you looked at September as a month, there were six days in which we didn’t have college or pro football when we did last year, and then also a UFC fight and a boxing match,” Buffalo Wild Wings COO James M. Schmidt said on the call (though it should be noted college football’s first week started Sept. 3 this year). “That really impacted both the month and the quarter as a whole.”

Things aren’t going to get much better during the holidays, executives said, as festivities will keep people busy until the Super Bowl. Unless you want to go as a greedy wings eater for Halloween, in which case you’re going to need some food for your costume.

Buffalo Wild Wings is blaming the NFL for a slowdown in business [Business Insider]