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“We have three words that describe our atmosphere: it’s group, it’s fun, it’s sports,” says Bedard. “It’s a big place to go, an average of 300 seats. You can be there with a hockey team after a game to watch the games. I think the food is good and it’s a place to share moments and everything like that.”
It’s also an interesting place to share a beverage. The restaurant’s signature group beer pitcher, the Girafe, sits atop a four-legged stand with extra-large pitcher featuring its own pouring spout to keep large groups well lubricated.
A well-received promotion for La Cage Aux Sport is the “5 goals = 8 free wings” offer. When the Montreal Canadiens score five goals in any regular season or playoff game, patrons (or anyone visiting the team’s Bell Centre arena that brings in their ticket stub) receive a voucher for an eight-wing order for their next restaurant visit. Patrons can also download a coupon from the restaurant’s website.
La Cage also cross-promotes with Interbox, Bedard’s training and management company for aspiring and professional boxers. Rounding out his team is current IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. The hockey counterpart to Interbox, also run by Bedard, is Sportscene Hockey Performance Development, a training camp for aspiring hockey players that boasts current pros such as Bruno Gervais of the New York Islanders as well as Kristopher Letang and Maxime Talbot of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Interbox has recently worked out a long-term, multi-site contract with cable channel ShowTime to produce all of its boxing events.
La Cage aux Sports branding is of course mixed into every sports activity. Boxing matches are heavily promoted across the locations, and the resto-bar also sponsors events like beach volleyball where guests are invited to events cross-promoted with Corona.
In addition, La Cage aux Sports’ Facebook page and Twitter feeds deliver sporting news and event updates along with promotions for the restaurant.
“[Social media] has been very good,” says Bedard. “Lucian Bute, our boxer, has 2,200 fans (on Twitter), and 60,000 fans on Facebook, so we provide the fans with a lot of special clips and pictures. We’re doing a lot of promotion (with the restaurant).”
La Cage aux Sports will query its social media followers throughout the day, for example selecting a specific location and asking what sports jerseys are at the front of the restaurant. The people who answer correctly win a gift certificate.
“I think it’s growing, and right now we have hired someone who is full time on our social media,” says Bedard. “We have a brand, because we’re in sports, that is very social. It’s definitely a tool that we need to use.”
Bedard has taken an active role in promoting the restaurant industry as a whole. He was a director on the board of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) for several years starting in 1999, served as chair of the board in 2004-2005, and in 2002 helped found the Council of Chain Restaurants: Quebec (CCRQ), a Quebec branch of the CRFA for which he also served as chair.
Bedard credits the people he works with for his ability to maintain involvement in so many projects.
“I have good people that are working with me,” he says. “I think that’s the key. I’m not in everything, in all the details. You have to have good people with you and give them some responsibilities and be there when they need you, and that’s the way I work and why I can be involved in so many things.”
Bedard’s wife works with him at the office, and his two sons, aged 17 and 15, are actively involved in sports. His oldest son is playing midget AAA hockey, the youngest is in a high school hockey program, and both golf in the summers. Both are students of Sportscene Hockey Performance Development.
“Honestly, I’m well-balanced,” says Bedard. “When I’m at the office, I work. At night, when I’m at home, I don’t work. I rest. The day after, I’m in good shape, so I can do some good. I think I’m well balanced, with sports, with activities, friends and family. And because I love sports, it’s very easy to work where I do. When Monday morning is coming, I’m okay to go to the office because I’m working on something that I like, which is restaurants, being social and sports. When you like sports, that’s the greatest job you can have.”
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