NTN Buzztime

What NTN Buzztime does

NTN Buzztime, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Carlsbad, California, operates an interactive entertainment and integrated marketing platform purpose-built for bar and restaurant venues. The company's core product is the Buzztime network — a proprietary content-delivery platform that streams trivia, live-hosted trivia, poker, bingo, fantasy sports (Bets), and arcade games to participating hospitality venues, accessible either through patron BYOD (phone/tablet) or venue-provided Buzztime Arcade tablets. Supporting infrastructure includes Game Room (a centralized entertainment suite), Bar Display (a central hub for in-venue entertainment and advertising), Bar Hero (a patron loyalty/rewards program), and Spot Map (a venue-discovery network feature). The platform is positioned to drive midweek dwell time, check-average growth, and customer loyalty for venue operators.

The business is monetized through a tiered monthly subscription model: Bronze at $199/month (BYOD), Silver at $249/month (5 tablets included), and Gold at $299/month (10 tablets included), each requiring a 6-month commitment. The company also generates tablet hardware revenue bundled into Silver and Gold plans. Distribution is hybrid: a direct/inside sales motion targeting hospitality operators (phone line 1-877-757-1130, [email protected]) is layered with a self-serve website storefront, a $250 Bar Tab referral program, and promotional campaigns (e.g., a $50K Giveaway). Named customers include Buffalo Wings, Boston Pizza, No Frills, and Old Chicago, with the company claiming "hundreds of venues" on its network.

Financially, NTN Buzztime is publicly listed on NYSE American under ticker NTN but trades at a market capitalization of approximately $618,620 with a stock price around $0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, indicating high financial leverage relative to a small equity base. The company employs 51-100 people. The only disclosed acquisition is Spogo Inc. (July 2015), and the only known historical funding round is a $1,000,000 investment from Scientific Atlanta in June 2001. The company does not document any AI/ML capabilities, patents, awards, or major partnerships in the available data.

Name

NTN Buzztime

Legal name

Buzztime

Website

https://Buzztime.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

NTN Buzztime operates a subscription-based interactive entertainment platform that delivers trivia, poker, bingo, arcade, and live-hosted game content to hundreds of bars and restaurants via its proprietary network and bundled tablet hardware.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Entertainment Software

NAICS

Amusement Arcades (71312), Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Party Games, Activities & Interactive Entertainment (HSACACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Amusement/Redemption Arcade Machines (Ticket & Prize) (MPAEAJAD)

Keywords

• Interactive entertainment platform
• Bar trivia games
• Hospitality gaming solutions
• Venue engagement software
• Subscription gaming network

Headquarters

HQ city

Carlsbad

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venue Subscription Plans: Monthly subscription plans (Bronze $199/mo, Silver $249/mo, Gold $299/mo) with 6-month commitment requirement. Provides recurring revenue from venue subscriptions for access to the full Buzztime game library and entertainment platform.
2. Tablet Hardware: Silver plan includes 5 Buzztime Arcade tablets; Gold plan includes 10 Buzztime Arcade tablets. Tablets are provided as part of the subscription tier, suggesting bundled hardware revenue.
3. Platform Licensing: Licensing of proprietary Buzztime network platform and interactive entertainment content (trivia, sports, gaming) to hospitality venues for use in their establishments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NTN Buzztime provides a subscription-based interactive entertainment platform for bars and restaurants, delivering a proprietary library of trivia, live-hosted trivia, poker, bingo, fantasy sports, and arcade games via the Buzztime network. Venues subscribe to tiered monthly plans (Bronze $199, Silver $249, Gold $299) on a 6-month commitment, with higher tiers bundling Buzztime Arcade tablets. The offering is complemented by the Game Room entertainment suite, Bar Display central control hub, Bar Hero rewards program, and Spot Map venue discovery, designed to increase dwell time, midweek traffic, and check averages at hospitality venues.

Product overview

Buzztime is an interactive entertainment platform for hospitality venues (bars, restaurants) that delivers game show content through a proprietary network. The core offering consists of multiple game types: Trivia, Live Trivia, Poker, Bingo, Bets, and Arcade — all accessible via the Buzztime network platform. The platform is complemented by venue management features including Game Room (full entertainment suite), Bar Display (central content and advertising control), Tablets (hardware for table-side engagement), Bar Hero (loyalty/rewards), and Spot Map (venue discovery). The company operates on a subscription model with Bronze ($199/mo), Silver ($249/mo with 5 tablets), and Gold ($299/mo with 10 tablets) tiers, requiring a 6-month commitment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Buzztime Trivia: Interactive trivia game platform for bar and hospitality venues
• Buzztime Live Trivia
• Buzztime Bingo
• Buzztime Bets
• Buzztime Poker
• Buzztime Arcade
• Game Room
• Bar Hero
• Bar Display
• Spot Map

Products and services

• Buzztime Trivia Interactive trivia game show content for hospitality venues, playable by customers using their own devices or venue-provided tablets. Designed for bar and restaurant operators to host trivia nights that drive engagement and dwell time.
• Buzztime Live Trivia Live-hosted trivia nights with a host leading the game in real-time, providing structured engagement and entertainment for venue patrons as part of the Buzztime subscription.
• Buzztime Poker Poker tournament and gameplay content for bar and restaurant venues, delivered through the Buzztime network as part of the platform subscription.
• Buzztime Bingo Bingo game show content for hospitality venues, playable by patrons during slow nights to drive engagement, included in the Buzztime subscription platform.
• Buzztime Bets Fantasy sports and betting-themed entertainment content for hospitality venues, available as part of the Buzztime subscription platform.
• Buzztime Arcade Arcade-style games available through the Buzztime platform for venue entertainment, including the Buzztime Arcade tablets bundled with Silver (5 tablets) and Gold (10 tablets) subscription tiers.
• Buzztime Arcade Tablets Venue-provided tablets that enable up to 5x more customer engagement, placed at tables for gameplay access. Bundled with Silver and Gold subscription plans as part of the Buzztime offering.
• Bar Display Central hub system for controlling all venue entertainment and advertising content displayed on screens, included as a venue management feature of the Buzztime platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 5x more engagement with tablets at every table

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pour Trivia: Hosted trivia service for bars and restaurants, focused on driving midweek traffic via live trivia nights—directly competitive with Buzztime's vertical and use case.
• Geeks Who Drink: Specializes in hosted pub trivia for bars and restaurants. Competes directly with Buzztime's Live Trivia and Trivia products, offering venues recurring trivia entertainment services.
• TouchTunes: Out-of-home entertainment platform powering jukeboxes and interactive games in bars and restaurants. Competes with Buzztime for venue entertainment budgets and screen-based engagement.
• The Trivia Factory: Provides trivia nights and interactive entertainment for bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues; overlaps with Buzztime's Trivia and Live Trivia offerings.
• AMI Entertainment: Provides jukeboxes, music systems, and entertainment solutions for bars and restaurants, similar to Buzztime's bar display and tablets that drive on-premise engagement.
• Incredible Technologies (Golden Tee): Develops coin-operated bar and arcade games (notably Golden Tee) installed in thousands of bars and restaurants worldwide, overlapping with Buzztime's arcade and tablet-based offerings.
• Stump! Trivia: Hosted bar trivia company that supplies trivia nights and entertainment programming to bars and restaurants nationwide, overlapping with Buzztime's trivia and live-hosted offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Kahoot: Quiz and trivia platform widely used for live games in venues and events; offers an alternative to Buzztime's hosted trivia via free or low-cost consumer/educational tooling.
• Dave & Buster's: Large-format entertainment and dining venue with proprietary arcade and game technology—overlaps with Buzztime's amusement/arcade category for out-of-home entertainment.
• Main Event Entertainment: Family entertainment center chain offering arcade games, food, and drink. Operates at greater scale in the on-premise interactive entertainment category that Buzztime services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Buzztime
• Facebookfacebook.com/buzztime

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NTN Buzztime