• Needs To Exist
  • Posts
  • Idea Of The Day - Build bar nights where people scream “BINGO” while double-fisting tequila

Idea Of The Day - Build bar nights where people scream “BINGO” while double-fisting tequila

In partnership with

GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), staying on theme with yesterday’s bar vibe, today’s idea brings bingo, ping pong, and cornhole to fix dead space and boost drink sales.

Sign up now for close to 3k startup ideas at your fingertips with NTE Pro

Here’s what we’ve got for you today.

  • Daily Idea - Drink. Play. Repeat.

  • Old behaviors - find them

Make Bar Nights Viral

The One Liner

Tournaments, trash talk, and tequila — all under one roof.

The 140 character tweet (or X) version

Bars are boring between rounds. Add ping pong, cornhole, or chaotic bingo nights to keep people drinking, playing, and coming back weekly.

The Longer Story Version

The Longer Story Version

The Problem

Most bars are dead space with drinks.
You go, you drink, you wait. You scroll. Your friend’s late. The bartender’s swamped. The vibe’s off.
It’s a social scene… without actual social activity.

And while trivia night used to break the monotony, it’s stale. Everyone’s seen it, played it, moved on.
The bar doesn’t care — they just want you to keep ordering. But if there’s no energy, you’re not sticking around.

Here’s the truth:
People want to do stuff — not just drink.
Especially millennials and Gen Z who grew up on casual games, livestreams, and competitive nonsense. They want interaction, community, and a reason to yell “let’s run it back.”

The Solution

Inject gameplay into nightlife.

Imagine walking into a bar and it’s not just loud music and overpriced drinks — it’s bingo with memes, doubles ping pong tournaments, or cornhole brackets with drink specials for winners.

No dead space. No boredom. Just movement, laughter, chaos.

You’re not just drinking…
You’re competing for free shots.
You’re yelling “BINGO” over a Dua Lipa remix.
You’re getting tagged on Instagram by strangers because you pulled off a beer pong upset in a full-blown bracket.

It’s a bar that makes staying longer worth it.

Why It Works:

  • Gameplay fills the “waiting gap” most bars ignore.

  • Events like “Dirty Bingo Night” or “Cash Tournament Tuesdays” give people a reason to come back.

  • Casual games = nostalgic, competitive, and hilariously fun.

  • The host becomes the hype engine — they set the tone, crowd follows.

How We'd Build It

Stage 1: MVP Night at a Partner Bar

  • Partner with a local bar on an off-night (Tuesday/Wednesday).

  • Use Eventbrite or Yonder for RSVPs and optional ticketing.

  • Run a “Dirty Bingo” or “Ping Pong Night” with a custom bracket.

  • Use BingoCardGenerator.com to theme your night (e.g. "Pop Culture Bingo").

  • Offer gameplay-based drink perks (e.g. win = free drink).

  • Hire a host who feels more Twitch streamer than bar manager.

Stage 2: Make It Repeatable

  • Create a playbook for event types, drink tie-ins, and hosting scripts.

  • Build a template site Carrd or Typedream to replicate across cities.

  • Build a lightweight CRM Airtable or Notion + Zapier to track venues, players, RSVPs, and feedback.

  • Promote events on local Reddit, Facebook Groups, and TikTok with chaotic highlight clips.

Stage 3: Turn It Into a Brand

  • Launch a site to license your formats + event kits to other bars (like “Bar Olympics in a Box”).

  • Build a creator-style community for local hosts and gamemasters.

  • Layer in merch, branded scorecards, or a leaderboard app.

Why It Needs to Exist

Because nightlife doesn’t have to be passive.
People want something new, not another overpriced old fashioned.
They want connection. They want chaos. They want to play.

This isn’t TopGolf. It’s not Dave & Buster’s.
It’s a lean, lo-fi, loop-driven social engine built on games, drinks, and loud nights.

And for bars?
It’s more drinks, more dwell time, and a packed calendar without needing a rebrand.

The Daily Newsletter for Intellectually Curious Readers

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

🚀 2,000+ Battle-Tested Ideas
From one-person money machines to venture-scale moonshots—new ideas drop every week.

🔎 Search Fast. Build Faster.
Filter by category, business model, or budget. No fluff, just ideas ready to ship.

🧠 Sourced from the Sharpest Minds
We dig through 100s of newsletters, academic papers, and founder interviews—so you get the gold without the grind.

📋 Step-by-Step Launch Guides
Pick an idea. Get the plan. Know exactly how to validate, build, and launch.

Old Behaviors + New Formats = Startup Gold

The best startup ideas? They’re rarely pure invention. They’re remix energy.

You don’t have to create a brand-new human behavior. You just need to spot something people already do and deliver it in a format that feels 10x better, faster, or more fun.

Old behaviors = demand.
New formats = leverage.

Let me show you:

  • People have always worked out. → Then came Peloton, Tonal, Aaptiv.

  • People love to chat with friends. → Hello, Discord, Snapchat, Geneva.

  • People used to go to trivia night. → Now they’re playing HQ Trivia or Kahoot! on their couch.

Same instincts. New packaging.

Here’s How to Spot These Plays

Look for 3 signals:

  1. Stale formats
    If everyone’s doing the same thing the same way (dinner dates, resumes, meetups, therapy sessions), that’s your opening. The behavior is sticky—but the format is dusty.

  2. Underserved rituals
    Is there a ritual people love but secretly hate how it works? (Tipping, waiting in line, apartment hunting, networking events). Fix the pain, not the habit.

  3. Emerging platforms
    New playgrounds = new packaging. TikTok birthed new forms of education, dating, and shopping. ChatGPT unlocked new ways to brainstorm, learn, or get therapy. Ride the wave.

Tools to Help You Mine These Gems

🧠 Glasp – highlight and save interesting insights from what you're reading online. Look for patterns in behavior.
📈 Exploding Topics – surfaces breakout trends before they go mainstream.
🧰 Whimsical – map behavior chains visually and identify where format upgrades could live.
🔎 Reddit + TikTok Comments – the best user research is people complaining in public. Start there.

Bonus move: run a search on “[thing people do] + annoying” and see what comes up. Real pain = real opportunity.

Quick Examples to Get You Thinking

  • People still tip. But tipping today feels gross. How can you make it feel joyful again?

  • People still meet in person. But most meetups suck. Can you redesign that format?

  • People still read news. But doomscrolling is draining. What’s the fresh way to deliver it?

Don’t waste time trying to force behavior change.
Piggyback on what people already want and just deliver it in a way that slaps.

That’s how you go from “meh idea” to “wait, take my money.”

And if you need ideas like this served daily? You know where to find us.

One More Meme