Tom’s Watch Bar is one to watch.
The “official bar of the Colorado Rockies,” which opened in McGregor Square last year across from Coors Field, got a “significant investment” this week from Denver Broncos Hall-of-Famer John Elway.
Elway will also become a member of the Denver-based sports bar chain’s board of advisors, as will David Robertson, CEO of FrontRange Capital Partners, who also made an investment in Tom’s. The terms of both deals were undisclosed, .
“Obviously, John Elway is on everyone’s radar not just because of his sports acumen but also his preponderance in the business world,” Tom’s Watch Bar co-founder, Tom Ryan, told the Denver Post. “Dave Robertson was our mutual contact, and it was just nature taking its course to get the three of us together.”
“I am extremely pleased with the opportunity to invest directly into Tom’s Watch Bar – a well-developed early-stage concept with strong unit-level economics,” Elway said in a statement. “…Tom’s Watch Bar is bringing an entirely new sports entertainment concept to the bar and restaurant marketplace, filling an unmet need in the sports entertainment marketplace with virtually no true competitive concept in the landscape.”
Tom’s Watch Bar, which began as Tom’s Urban in Larimer Square in 2012, currently has six locations around the U.S., including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, and another seven under construction. The McGregor Square location is two stories with 360-degree views and more than 150 TV screens. In addition to Tom’s Watch Bar, Ryan also founded the Smashburger chain in 2007; Smashburger now has 245 locations in 34 states.
This is the third recent capital infusion to fuel the company’s growth. In September, Tom’s Watch Bar announced a $30 million investment from Sagard Credit Partners, which followed an injection of $24 million in founder’s equity.
“We have a fairly active letters-of-intent pipeline that we continue to review,” Ryan told the Denver Post. “There’s probably a solid half-dozen to a dozen that are under review right now. Obviously we don’t capitalize on all of those, but there’s a good chance that 40 percent of those will be approved in the next six months. Any capital, not specifically John’s or Dave’s, is used to support that growth.”
Tom’s Watch Bar expects to grow sales to over $100 million after completing its seven units by the late second quarter of 2023, according to the release. Ryan told the Denver Post that the company’s goal is to have 60 locations open by 2026.
