Restaurant Operations

Tom's Watch Bar Names Pantone 294 Official Dodgers Partner at 18 Venues

Tom's Watch Bar has named Pantone 294, the largest non-team-affiliated Dodgers fan club, its official national partner across all 18 venues, locking in chapter-led watch parties through the postseason.

After more than 3,000 Pantone 294 members packed Tom's Watch Bar's Sacramento location for a single Dodgers game, the chain has signed the fan club as an official national partner across all of its venues.

Tom's Watch Bar, a sports-bar concept with nearly 20 U.S. locations, will host official Pantone 294 chapter watch parties at every unit during the regular season and playoffs, the company said. The deal hands the chain anchor programming rights for the country's biggest independent Dodgers fan base.

What does the deal cover?

The agreement designates Tom's Watch Bar as the official home base for Pantone 294's national chapter network. As the Dodgers enter the postseason, every Tom's market will run giveaways, merchandise drops, and ticket-and-flyaway promotions tied to key playoff games.

"Tom's Watch Bar is thrilled to be the official home for Pantone 294 at our venues in the L.A. area and across the country," said Brooks Schaden, Tom's Watch Bar Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "We look forward to welcoming Dodgers fans through our doors and giving them a place to watch games, enjoy great food and drinks, and cheer on their team from the first pitch into extra innings."

Who is Pantone 294?

Pantone 294 bills itself as the largest non-team-affiliated Dodgers fan club in the United States. Founder Alex Soto launched the group in 2009 out of a single social media page. It now counts a national membership with active travel contingents that turn out in force for away games.

The Sacramento turnout — more than 3,000 members in one evening — showed the chapter can fill a venue on demand. That scalability, more than brand recognition, is the asset Tom's is buying: a crowd-sourced, self-organized event calendar that costs the operator zero in grassroots marketing spend.

What does Tom's get out of it?

The partnership converts Pantone 294's pre-existing club infrastructure into covers. Every chapter promotion arrives pre-loaded with members who already arrange carpools, tailgates and watch parties on their own. Tom's absorbs that coordination cost and books the upside.

For a sports-bar P&L, the value sits in concentrated traffic spikes on high-intent game nights — the kind of programming window that lifts bar-tab checks and anchors premium food bundles during peak weekend hours. Neither company disclosed financial terms.

Where will the activations run?

Tom's Watch Bar operates 18 named venues across the country:

  • Cincinnati
  • Denver
  • Houston
  • Ilani (Ridgefield, Wash.)
  • Indianapolis
  • Inglewood, Calif.
  • Las Vegas
  • Los Angeles
  • Milwaukee
  • Minneapolis
  • National Harbor (Oxon Hill, Md.)
  • Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.)
  • Orlando, Fla.
  • Phoenix
  • Pittsburgh
  • Sacramento, Calif.
  • San Diego
  • Seattle

Soto framed the tie-up as mission completion for the club.

"Partnering with Tom's Watch Bar will give every Pantone 294 chapter a true game day experience, no matter how far we are from Dodger Stadium," said Alex Soto, Founder of Pantone 294. "My mission with this club has always been to create a space for Dodgers fans to gather, celebrate and root for our Boys in Blue together."

With the Dodgers entering October, expect Tom's Watch Bar to lean into the partnership through the World Series run — turning every remaining playoff broadcast into a scheduled, captive-audience night on the books.

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Marcus Bennett

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Market editor covering media and advertising at The Pass Brief.

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