Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Company

<a href="https://drinkwildbills.com/pages/franchise-opportunity?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=wild-bills-franchise-opportunity-2730253" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co.</a> is a Western-themed mobile “soda saloon” that turns fairs, festivals and fan conventions into high-throughput days for owner-operators. Guests buy a stainless-steel mug and receive unlimited refills of nostalgic craft sodas, creating lines, value and a take-home reminder.<h2>Built at Festivals, Proven Over 23 Seasons</h2>Wild Bill’s began in 2002 as Wild Bill’s Olde Fashioned Soda Pop Co., carving out a national following by showing up where crowds gather before expanding into e-commerce and retail cans. The event DNA stayed central even as the brand modernized its look and product line.Leadership grew out of the field. CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-quilty-4b973b4/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=wild-bills-franchise-opportunity-2730253" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Michael Quilty</a>, a U.S. Navy veteran, and Chief Growth Officer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mruddo/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=wild-bills-franchise-opportunity-2730253" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Michael Russo</a> (known affectionately at Wild Bill’s as “Mike &amp; Mike”) started as franchisees and acquired the company in 2018, bringing an operator’s lens to growth and support.&nbsp;Longevity shows up across mainstream and niche circuits. “It’s amazing with 23 years of history, what’s become of Wild Bill’s,” Russo said. “You’d be amazed — Renaissance fairs, fantasy fairs, steampunk events, things you’ve never heard of.”<h2>Where Event Demand Meets Owner-Operator Economics</h2>Live events remain a durable draw, and Wild Bill’s model is built for that rhythm: recognizable wagon, fast setup, quick service and a clear value proposition. “We had an Army veteran reach out to us about franchising,” Quilty said. “He said, ‘Oh, I buy your soda … I scanned the QR code (on the can) and I saw it on your website.’”The initial investment for a Wild Bill’s franchise ranges from $155,800 to $214,700, with a franchise fee of $40,000 for a territory of 2 million people. The format is designed to scale from a single wagon to multiple stands in a market as relationships and demand grow.&nbsp;<h2>A Crowd-Pleasing Offer With a Logistics Edge</h2>Continuous hardware iteration underpins consistency and speed. “It’s the 23-year overnight success,” Quilty said. “We’re on our fifth version of a stand and have our sixth one in development.” Access is another moat, earned over time. Russo cited relationships with “almost 100 convention centers and expo centers and arenas across the country.”Discipline around value keeps the brand sharp. “Everybody’s your competition,” Quilty said. “You have to position yourself in all these ways to produce outsized value. These relationships we’ve put in place are hard to get.”<h2>From Veterans to Owners: Support That Holds Up in the Field</h2>Wild Bill’s has used the business as a path into entrepreneurship for veterans, pairing mission with mentorship. Quilty points to early hires from a veterans’ retreat who moved into ownership and to the system’s resilience when it mattered most. “We’re really proud that all of our franchisees made it through COVID … an event business where our revenue went to zero and we were able to get everybody through that,” he said.Operators lean on corporate resources and each other. “We have a lot of corporate resources, and we also have our franchisees support each other really well,” Quilty said. “You have to be the type of person that reaches out and asks for help.” Russo encourages candidates to see a wagon in action: “You can’t understand it until you see it … we encourage anyone we speak to to come experience an event. And you gotta try a soda … you gotta try a birch beer.”<h2>Shelf Buzz Fuels Weekend Lines</h2>Awareness from cans on store shelves and online channels is translating into franchise interest, while deliberate pacing protects support. “We’re very focused on making sure that folks are successful,” Quilty said. “Right now we have 15 franchisees, and we’re in the process of doubling that over the next year … continuing to add franchisees, continuing to grow geographically.”Seasonality is typical — heavy spring through fall with winter slowdown — though indoor venues extend activity in cold markets. “Things get slow around Thanksgiving, and then things start up again in March and April,” Quilty said. “Indoor venues let people do events in the winter in a cold market.”<h2>Ideal Wild Bill’s Franchisees: Hands-On Leaders Who Thrive in the Crowd</h2>This is a hands-on concept for people who like live events, logistics and leading small crews. “It’s really a weekend warrior type of job,” Russo said. “It’s very much an owner-operator concept.” Scaling requires team building and delegation. “If you’ve got three stands and you’re going out with one stand, you have to hire and train people to operate those other two stands,” Quilty said. “People, people, people is the hard part.”Wild Bill’s is currently prioritizing candidates in&nbsp;Salt Lake City, UT,&nbsp; Denver, CO,&nbsp; San Jose, CA, Portland, OR,&nbsp; West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Alabama, Calgary/Edmonton, Canada. Those markets pair strong event density with the brand’s long-standing venue relationships, giving new owners a path to book, set up and serve quickly.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://drinkwildbills.com/pages/franchise-opportunity?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=wild-bills-franchise-opportunity-2730253" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://drinkwildbills.com/pages/franchise-opportunity</a>.

Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Co. Franchise Opportunity - 1851 Franchise

Wild Bill’s Franchise | Mobile Soda Saloon Opportunity

1851 Franchise

Western-themed mobile soda saloon pairs unlimited refills with refined wagons, venue ties and a veteran-led culture to turn live events into a scalable owner-led business.

This brand page has been paid for by WILD BILL'S CRAFT BEVERAGE COMPANY. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

Omnichannel Buzz, Collectible Mugs and a 23-Year Event Footprint Position Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co. for Disciplined Franchise Growth

wild-bills-franchise-opportunity

FRANCHISE INFORMATION

Own a Wild Bills

A Crowd-Pleasing Offer With a Logistics Edge

Why Fans Line Up for the Mug

Deep Dive

Learn

Visit Website

WILD BILL'S CRAFT BEVERAGE COMPANY

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

TikTok

YouTube

SOCIAL MEDIA

Wild Bill’s Expands in the Valley as Two Army Veterans Launch Scottsdale-Phoenix Operations

Veteran Chris Creamer Brings Wild Bill's to Las Vegas

Wild Bill’s Caps a Transformational 2025 With Market Expansion, Product Innovation and Franchise Momentum

WILD BILL'S CRAFT BEVERAGE COMPANY MOST READ STORIES

1851 LOGIN

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

ABOUT WILD BILL'S CRAFT BEVERAGE COMPANY

CONTACT WILD BILL'S CRAFT BEVERAGE COMPANY

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

Current City & State of Residence

If you've served in the military, which branch?

Are you currently a business owner?

Have you served in the military?

Do you have prior experience operating a business at fairs, festivals, or conventions?

Have you previously owned or managed a franchise?

Which city and state are you interested in franchising?

Are you willing to travel for events or operations?

Are you open to working weekends and holidays?

What attracts you to Wild Bill’s as a franchise opportunity?

What skills or experiences do you believe will help you succeed as a franchise owner?

Any saved rounds? Shoot us a note!

Invest in a brand that's on the rise!

For many food and beverage franchises, fairs, festivals, conventions, and sporting events compete for consumers' time and discretionary spending. For Wild Bill's, those events are the marketplace.&nbsp;The brand was built around mobility and event-based selling long before pop-up retail and experiential marketing became common industry buzzwords. Rather than investing heavily in storefront real estate and relying on customers to come to them, franchisees take the business directly to high-traffic events where people are already gathering, spending money and looking for entertainment.That difference changes how franchisees grow. Rather than depending on more storefronts,&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills/info">Wild Bill’s</a> operators can build revenue by booking more events, entering new venues or adding setups when weekends are especially busy.<h2>Spring Creates the Momentum for the Entire Year</h2>The calendar starts coming together in winter, then picks up once spring events return. For many franchisees, that early activity sets the tone for the year.“Spring is when our event season really kicks off,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mruddo/">Michael Russo</a>, chief growth officer of <a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills/info">Wild Bill’s</a>. “In many of our seasonal markets, April marks the beginning of the busy event season as outdoor festivals and fairs return. April through October remains the core of the business nationwide, but we've also built a strong lineup of indoor conventions, expos, and sporting events that keep many of our operators active throughout the winter months”.That momentum builds quickly once outdoor events return in force. Anime conventions, food festivals, equestrian events, county fairs, air shows, and tattoo conventions all become part of the operating calendar. Across the system, that can mean events like Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Picklesburgh in Pittsburgh, the Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington, the Middlesex County Fair in New Jersey, the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show and the Villain Arts Tattoo Convention in Chicago. Franchisees often spend consecutive weekends on the road, moving from one event to another as attendance levels increase heading into summer.The repeat nature of many events helps franchisees build consistency over time. Returning to the same festivals year after year strengthens relationships with organizers and creates a loyal customer base.&nbsp;“One of the things we love about this business is seeing customers come back year after year,” Russo said. “At the Oyster Bay Festival on Long Island, I met a customer who was still using the mug she bought in 2007. She told me she'd been attending the festival since she was seven years old and still brings that same mug nearly two decades later.”&nbsp;That type of long-term visibility is difficult for many traditional operators to replicate. At events, Wild Bill’s is not simply competing for a single transaction. The brand becomes part of the experience people associate with attending the fair, festival or convention itself.<h2>Built Around Consumer Traffic</h2>The model's mobility changes how franchisees think about customer acquisition and operating costs. Because revenue is tied to the event calendar, operators can keep more of their expenses aligned with weekends, when the stand is actually in use.“There is lower permanent overhead,” Russo said. “Traditional operators usually have year-round utilities, property maintenance and all of that. We’re a temporary setup. Labor is usually part-time, event-based and seasonal in some cases.”That flexibility allows franchisees to focus resources on revenue-generating weekends rather than on fixed operating expenses. It also creates opportunities to pursue a wider variety of events throughout the year.Beyond fairs and festivals, franchisees are also booked for corporate and special events, providing a fun and unique beverage experience. Because many of these bookings take place during the week, they help fill the calendar between traditional weekend events while expanding the brand's reach throughout the year.&nbsp;“We've also been booking a growing number of corporate and private events, including employee appreciation days, customer appreciation events, business grand openings, and promotional events for local businesses,“ Russo said.Whether it's 100,000-plus attendees at a major comic convention, thousands of families at a regional festival, or athletes and parents at a weekend volleyball tournament, franchisees are operating in environments where customer traffic is already built in. That gives franchisees a different starting point than a storefront waiting for traffic to come in.“You’re at these events, and it’s a buying environment,” Russo said. “It’s like the Disneyland effect or a vacation mindset. People are there to be entertained and spend money. You’re at an event where the crowd has the intent to purchase.”<h2>Scaling Through Events Instead of Storefronts</h2>That range can be useful for new owners. A franchisee can start with a manageable event calendar, learn the rhythm of the business and decide how much more they want to take on from there.“We have event operators who have one wagon, do 20 or 30 events a year and treat it as a lifestyle business or side hustle,” Russo said. “Then we have more serious operators who turn it into a business, do three or four events a weekend and have multiple stands. You really scale the business by doing more events.”Franchisees can grow at their own pace, too. Rather than taking on another storefront right away, operators can add more events, test new areas and build a bigger calendar over time.The company supports that process heavily through operational training and event-booking guidance. Franchisees receive equipment training, live-event preparation and support identifying worthwhile opportunities in their local markets.“We’ve been doing events for 24 years, longer than we’ve been franchising,” Russo said. “We like to think we know what a good and bad event is, so we help franchisees evaluate and book events.”New franchisees also receive hands-on operational support before launching into the field.“We bring most of our new franchisees to our warehouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania,” Russo said. “They stay there for two or three days and learn all the equipment. We run a mock event and break something on purpose, so they have to fix it.”<h2>Timing Matters for Franchisees Entering the System</h2>Because event applications are often submitted months in advance, timing can play a major role in how quickly a new franchisee gains traction.Operators entering the system ahead of spring have a greater opportunity to build a full event calendar before the busiest season begins. That early momentum can help franchisees maximize exposure, bookings and repeat business during their first full year.“Because many event applications are submitted months in advance, timing matters,” Russo said. “Franchisees who join the system in the winter have the best opportunity to build out a full event calendar before the busy season begins. Ideally, we'd like operators up and running by January so they can take advantage of spring booking opportunities and maximize their first full year in the business.”For Wild Bill’s franchisees, event season is not simply a temporary spike in activity. It is the engine that drives customer acquisition, visibility and long-term growth. As spring crowds begin returning to festivals and venues nationwide, franchisees are positioning themselves where demand already exists and building businesses designed to move with it.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills">https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills</a>.

Wild Bill's Franchise Uses Event Season to Drive Growth - 1851 Franchise

With a mobile model built around fairs, festivals and high-traffic events, Wild Bill’s franchisees can grow by booking more weekends, not opening more storefronts.

The Event-Driven Franchise Model Behind Wild Bill's Growth 

event-season-festival-franchise-growth

In its March 2026 issue,&nbsp;<a href="https://digital.usveteransmagazine.com/US-Veterans-Magazine-March-2026/26/">U.S. Veterans Magazine</a> highlighted how&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-quilty-4b973b4/">Mike Quilty</a> has built<a href="https://drinkwildbills.com/pages/franchise-opportunity"> Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co.</a> around a belief that military leadership should lead to real civilian opportunity.Quilty, a former Navy officer who served aboard a submarine, has carried that perspective with him throughout his post-military career. At&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills/info">Wild Bill’s</a>, it shows up not only in how he hires, but in how he thinks about growth, culture and ownership. “Serving on the USS Gato was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Quilty said. “The biggest lesson I took away from that experience is the power of building a great team.”That lesson took on new urgency in 2017, when Quilty volunteered at&nbsp;<a href="https://bouldercrest.org/">Boulder Crest Retreat</a> during a reunion for a Marine company that had recently returned from Afghanistan. What he found was a group of highly capable veterans whose experience was not being fully recognized.&nbsp;“Many of them were unemployed or underemployed,” Quilty said. “These Marines had serious leadership abilities that were not understood or appreciated by civilian employers.”He hired several of them, and that decision helped shape Wild Bill’s into a company that looks at veteran talent differently. Quilty said the disconnect was not about ability. It was about recognition. “What was most revealing was that civilian employers had no idea who they were and what they had accomplished,” Quilty said. “That’s the gap we’re filling at Wild Bill’s. We know who veterans are, what they bring to the table and we make sure their potential is valued.”That approach now extends beyond employment. Wild Bill’s launched a&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills/wild-bills-craft-beverage-co-veteran-franchise-opportunity-2730574#stories">Veteran Franchise Program</a> that offers a 50% discount on franchise fees and financing options to qualified veterans, creating a path to business ownership for former service members. Quilty also made clear that support for veterans should not stop at praise or good intentions.&nbsp;“Take the leap and hire one veteran,” Quilty said. “If the environment is right, that one veteran will attract others, and before you know it, you’ll have a team making a real impact. But you have to start — and it just takes one.”Read the original article&nbsp;<a href="https://digital.usveteransmagazine.com/US-Veterans-Magazine-March-2026/26/">here</a>.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills">https://1851franchise.com/wild-bills</a>.

Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Co. Franchise - Opportunity for Veterans - 1851 Franchise

At Wild Bills Craft Beverage Co., a former Navy officer is creating career and ownership paths for veterans by recognizing and investing in their leadership experience.

U.S. Veterans Magazine: Mike Quilty Is Turning Military Leadership Into Opportunity for Veterans

veteran-franchise-opportunities-craft-soda

Wild Bill's Soda, Wild Bill's Craft Beverages

wild-bills-craft-beverage-2025-wrap-2026-franchise-growth

How Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co. Built a 23-Year Brand That Empowers Veterans Through Franchising

wild-bills-craft-beverage-co-veteran-franchise-opportunity

Omnichannel Buzz, Collectible Mugs and a 23-Year Event Footprint Position Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co. for Disciplined Franchise Growth

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS