CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 1^st, NTN Buzztime, Inc. NTN launched Smartest Bar, its annual nationwide trivia tournament that is driving repeat visits as players return to compete. Since early August, nearly 2,700 participating locations are already experiencing an increase in foot traffic and player engagement. Buzztime trivia gameplay has also increased by 25% as compared to the summer average. Smartest Bar runs through the holiday weekend until September 5^th, when the top 10 bars are announced. Finalists advance to the championship round on September 12^th.

Bars across America – like Beef O'Brady's in Prattville, Alabama – are reporting an uptick in new customers due to the competition: 

"Every year during Smartest Bar, we see higher foot traffic as more people come in to compete. It's great for our business! Not only does Smartest Bar increase revenue, the Buzztime players help create an exciting atmosphere that attracts even more patrons," said Mike Stone, a manager at Beef O'Brady's in Prattville.

Smartest Bar is a highly anticipated annual event for Buzztime players, who come together to represent their bar and strive for bragging rights. 

"Smartest Bar has increased participation and brought in a lot of new players at Beef O'Brady's. The new blood has energized the team. The publicity we got by finishing second last year was the closing story of the late TV news that night, strongly enhancing the stature of the site and the team in the community. The players get a tremendous level of support from the staff, and that's greatly helped our play. Our success is a community effort," said an avid Buzztime player at Beef O'Brady's in Prattville.

"Participating in Smartest Bar is the ultimate competitive trivia experience for many of our 10 million registered players. Each year, they're motivated by bragging rights and seeing their bar's name on a national leaderboard. No other in-venue entertainment provider gives players access to this level of competition – on such a large scale. In turn, this makes our partner locations the 'heroes' for bringing Smartest Bar to their guests," said Ram Krishnan, NTN Buzztime CEO.

The bar with the highest score wins the title Smartest Bar, a victory party, a championship trophy, medals for players, and more. With so much on the line, competition gets especially fierce in the fourth and fifth rounds, before the top 10 bars are named.  

"Smartest Bar exemplifies what's best about Buzztime – building comradery amongst our players and creating a desirable, engaging atmosphere for our partner locations. Buzztime DOOH advertising partners also benefit during the competition as their brand is displayed on 15,000 screens and 65,000 Android tablets when players are excited and immersed in gameplay," added Krishnan

Smartest Bar also gives Buzztime partner locations an opportunity to align their brand with a national event. Many locations use Smartest Bar to attract new patrons and capture local media attention.

Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current views of future events and operations, including statements regarding the value of our product to our customers and their guests, player engagement, differentiation from the competition, promotions and prizing, and partner branding opportunities.  These risks and uncertainties include the risks of unsuccessful execution or launch of products, platforms or brands, risks associated with customer retention and growth plans, the impact of alternative entertainment options and technologies and competitive products, brands, technologies and pricing, adverse economic conditions, the regulatory environment and changes in the law, failure of customer and/or player acceptance or demand for new or existing products, lower market acceptance or appeal of both existing and new products and services by particular demographic groups or audiences as a whole, and technical problems or outages. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

About Buzztime:
Buzztime NTN delivers interactive entertainment and innovative technology, including performance analytics and secure payment with Europay, MasterCard® and Visa® (EMV) chip card readers or with near-field communication (NFC) technology to accept Apple, Android and Samsung Pay.  Most frequently used in bars and restaurants in North America, the Buzztime tablets and technology offer engaging solutions to establishments that have guests who experience dwell time, such as casinos, senior living, and more. Casual dining venues license Buzztime's customizable solution to differentiate themselves via competitive fun by offering guests trivia, card, sports and arcade games, customized menus and self-service dining features. Buzztime's platform improves operating efficiencies, creates connections among the players and venues, and amplifies guests' positive experiences.  The Buzztime platform has also been recently resold and the content licensed for other businesses serving other markets.   For more information, please visit http://www.buzztime.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter @buzztime.

IR AGENCY CONTACT:
Becky Herrick/Kirsten Chapman, LHA
buzztime@lhai.com
415-433-3777

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SOURCE NTN Buzztime, Inc.