When it's a quiet quiz night, but you still put on the show
The sun is out, the Champions League is on, and your venue can't show the game. Two teams have pre-booked. Here's why I went ahead anyway, and what came of it.
The sun is out, the Champions League is in full swing with PSG vs Bayern, and you’ve got a football quiz in a venue that can’t show the game. The last thing anyone wants is to be inside, away from the match.
We’ve done all the marketing across the various platforms, so it’s down to the quiz gods now on the numbers.
It’s 6:45pm. Two teams pre-booked, both regulars who’ve been coming to our little footy quiz for months. One of those teams always splits in two if needed, to make it a better night. We decide: let’s go ahead. We need three teams to make it technically viable.
Why would you do such a crazy thing?
Three reasons.
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Seven people have already made the effort to pre-book. That’s their time and commitment to you and the venue. That’s important.
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Consistency of offer. This is a monthly event. People plan in advance for it and ask about it through the month. We’ve had really busy nights with 15+ teams, and others where it’s been 5 or 6. The point is that it always happens.
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I’ve spent the best part of two hours prepping questions, plus posts on socials. And honestly, I’d quite like to be in the pub watching the game. I’d rather go ahead and end up taking less than not run it at all. Neither the venue nor I will make a loss on the night.
The rationale applies whenever I’m planning or running events, or helping venues set up events. Always: people, consistency, viability.
Showtime
7:30pm start. Four teams in, no need to split. One more team dashes in — they thought I run the quiz like a few others where the 7:30 start is just a suggestion. So that’s five teams, and it’s time for the show.
With my infamous hardcore quizmaster drink in hand (a pint of soda water, ice, and a straw — naturally), we begin. All the teams have played before, but I run through the rules anyway so everyone is on a level playing field. Introduce the rounds for the night. I’m mixing it up this month with a mystery voices round, because why not.
It’s going great. By the end of round two there are only 18 points between the top of the leaderboard and the bottom. Pitched it just right — anyone could still win, and that’s exactly what you want. Builds tension.
Time for a break. Drinks, vapes, and loo breaks are essential (for the host too).
The second section features the infamous local teams round, where I delve into our local clubs’ performance, their players, and more importantly the weird facts and figures that make the teams think. Raiding the club shops for the proper tat is always good fun.
Listening to the room
One of the big challenges with the football packs the quiz platform produces is the lack of diversity in the questions. When we first started this round 18 months ago, one of our regular teams pointed out that the questions felt a bit samey — heavy on the big three UK teams and four European teams, and almost no women’s football at all.
We’ve always had at least one team with two women in it. They often win. I took it on board, and now part of my prep is reviewing the questions and adding in a more diverse range of teams and players. It takes effort. It’s worth it.
End of the section, scores are all climbing, no clear winners yet — which is a good thing. Quick break, update everyone on the PSG match. Looks like a clear PSG win tonight.
The evil round
Final evil section. Get it wrong and you lose points. The round some teams love and others hate — but you don’t have to answer if you don’t know. The thought of a sizeable bar tab keeps people guessing, even when they probably shouldn’t.
End of the game and we have a winner: The Sky Blue Army. I suppose an army can be a team of two. With only 60 points between all the teams, I’ll take that as a win, and a well-balanced quiz delivered.
What the night gave us
Feedback on the night was strong. The teams enjoyed it, and yes, they’ll be back. May’s footy quiz will be a look back at the last season. June’s will land in the middle of the World Cup, and will be about the matches to date — which means a lot of question writing coming up.
As for the bar: they were happy. We retained customers for the full two hours. Plenty of drinks bought. Food too. Some of the teams stayed on after the quiz finished, chatting and drinking. What could have been a dead night was actually, in the bar’s words, “not bad, and busier than we hoped.”
That’s the whole thing. People, consistency, viability. The rest takes care of itself.
Want a regular football quiz, or any other speciality quiz night for your venue or corporate event? Get in touch with us today.
Sky Blue Army on the night, the host's drink of choice, and a busier room from a different week — all part of the same recipe.