Local & Community
NFL Season Expected to Boost Business at Coachella Valley Bars
The start of a new NFL season is bringing optimism to bars and restaurants across the Coachella Valley, where business owners and employees are looking forward to larger crowds following the summer slow season.
With temperatures expected to cool down and football returning, local businesses say they are preparing for more customers filling their seats to watch games.
Rock’s Firehouse Grill and Kitchen 86 are among the local businesses expecting the NFL season to bring a boost. More customers can mean additional shifts for employees, longer workdays and bigger tips for servers and bartenders.
“They get more shifts, longer days, and bigger tips,” one local worker said.
The summer can be particularly challenging for businesses in the Valley, as seasonal residents leave the area and extreme heat keeps some people indoors.
“Being the summer season, all the snowbirds are gone and it’s hard to get people in here,” a worker said. “But I think as it’s going to cool down, a lot of people are going to start wanting to come out.”
According to the NFL Profit Calculator from DIRECTV for Business, restaurants can generate an estimated $23,000 in incremental profit over the course of a football season.
Local businesses say the difference can be noticeable when the sports season ends.
“At the end of the day, this place fills up very quickly,” one employee said. “A lot of people, first come, first serve for TVs. But as soon as the season ends, we definitely feel it.”
Workers also say the combination of football and cooler weather could encourage people who stayed home during the hottest months to return to local restaurants and bars.
The NFL season opens with a rematch of the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, with the game airing on NBC.
For Coachella Valley businesses, the hope is that football season will bring back familiar customers, attract new faces and provide a much-needed boost during the fall and winter months.
Explore: NBCPalmSprings.com, where we are connecting the Valley.
By: Brett Rosen
September 8, 2026
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