Flight Club launched in London in 2015 and came stateside in 2018 when State of Play Hospitality brought the “social darts” concept to Chicago. Since then, it has expanded into Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Denver. The venues offer technology-driven, multi-player darts games alongside full bars and food menus. The brand recently announced that it’s working on several more locations in the United States.
Flight Club New York will be the group’s first venue in Manhattan and will serve as a global flagship when it opens in late 2025. Situated in a 10,700-square-foot space that most recently housed Blue Water Grill in the Union Square neighborhood, the building was built in the early 1900s and was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1988. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Flight Club concepts feature high-tech, multi-player darts games.
“We’ve been looking for the right real estate opportunity to land Flight Club in New York for over five years, and this site has the potential to be a genuine landmark for the city and the group,” State of Play Hospitality CEO Toby Harris said. “Both 31 Union Square as a building and the stunning split level Flight Club space are as close to the physical brief for the brand that we could wish for.”
Before the New York launch, Flight Club will open venues in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. in late 2024.
The Philadelphia outpost is going into a 7,000-square-foot space in the original Philadelphia Stock Exchange building downtown. The D.C. spot is going into 8,546 square feet of street-level retail space in a mixed-use development and historic site of reconfigured rowhouses in the popular Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood.
The company has also signed a lease marking its 10th U.S. location in a market they’ll announce in the coming weeks.
The social entertainment space is more crowded every day. Harris said he believes the sector will keep growing its share of the overall hospitality market in the U.S., but he acknowledged that not every concept will have the ability to scale nationally.
“We are already seeing some concepts lose momentum due to their inability to generate repeat business due to a combination of a weaker guest experience and poor value for money,” Harris said. “At Flight Club, we are seeing long-term sustained growth in our existing venues, the oldest being Chicago, which opened over six years ago, [and] is experiencing record sales volumes.”
The Flight Club bar pours classic and original cocktails.
When executed well, the multi-pronged approach of food, beverage, and service with interactive gameplay is an engaging combination that appeals to different types of customers. Some want to play games, while others are just there to eat and drink. Both draws get people in the doors and are wins for the venue.
“The games are certainly one of the key elements of the Flight Club experience that bring guests back to our venues, but there are many others,” Harris said. “The activity revenue is a very small portion of our business, with food and beverage being the largest share.”
Food menus offer an eclectic mix of shareables, like yuzu guacamole, lobster elote dip, pork belly bao, and tandoori chicken skewers, plus a handful of flatbreads and a few desserts. The bar is pouring craft beers and cocktails, and Flight Club also serves weekend brunch, with dishes like breakfast sliders (maple glazed pork belly, scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, peppers, and onions on a brioche bun), a smoked salmon flatbread, and the option for bottomless Mimosas.
Flight Club serves shareable dishes and flatbreads.
Although games aren’t the primary revenue driver, the company still wants people to play darts. Groups can gather in semi-private spaces to play multiple games that accommodate up to 12 players simultaneously. The price is competitive, at $15 per person for 90 minutes of entertainment.
The growing concept has proved popular, and State of Play Hospitality will soon be putting it in front of more people.
“We are seeking to continue what we consider to be a thoughtful, measured rollout of the brand across North America,” Harris said.
