Buffalo Wild Wings began trading on NASDAQ in 2003.
The company’s first day of NASDAQ trading was November 21, 2003, under the ticker symbol BWLD. By then, Buffalo Wild Wings had expanded far beyond its original Columbus restaurant and had 211 locations in 27 states by the end of the third quarter of that year.
The public listing followed years of operational growth and financial restructuring. The company had considered an initial public offering in 1998 but abandoned the plan because market conditions were unfavorable. Expansion continued through franchising, with the business moving from its original college-area sports-bar identity toward a broader casual-dining model.
The 2003 date is sometimes confused with other milestones. Buffalo Wild Wings began franchising in 1992, standardized its name in the late 1990s, and later expanded into Canada in 2010. Its public-company era ended when Arby’s parent Inspire Brands agreed to acquire Buffalo Wild Wings in 2017.