MINNEAPOLIS - Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers? Buffalo Wild Wings will let you pick in its new - free - daily Fantasy Football game.
"When they come into a Buffalo Wild Wings they have the chance to, you know, kind of start fresh, draft - that daily fantasy approach - so draft a new team and play for some really awesome rewards," said Luke DeRouen, Buffalo Wild Wing's Vice President of Brand Experience and Activation.
Rewards like: free wings for a year, tickets to games, gift cards, and Blazin' Rewards Points. It's a national contest with 600 winners every Sunday.
To play, it's just two simple steps:
-Download the free app.
-On NFL Sunday, pull up the app and pick players.
Yes, customers have to be in the building to play and that's what the restaurant wants.
"You're going there for the gameday experience. So, how do you kind of dig the hooks in deeper and give them more of that experience - you apply money to the situation," said Sam Schaust, the Digital Editor at Twin Cities Business.
Schaust says: one reason Buffalo Wild Wings is doing this is to get set up for sports gambling.
"Having that infrastructure already ready for them where essentially they can just add a money betting system into an app, that is the advantage right now," said Schaust.
Right now, though, this new game is not gambling. Although, Buffalo Wild Wings is watching closely ever since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on sports betting in May.
"I think as we build out our strategy and potentially being a place where you can place a bet in states where it's legal, I think we will learn a lot from this experience," said DeRouen.
Sports gambling is legal in just six states - Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
"Right now, we probably wouldn't be looking at any sort of legalization until 2019 when the session starts up and we have a new Governor in place," said Schaust. "As Minnesotan's we like to really dig in and do our research. We'll see how it's affecting New Jersey or Mississippi or Pennsylvania and we'll take that information."