There’s another ‘Brexit’ threat in the offing, an early exit by the home teams from the Euro 2016 championships could hit pub takings. Owners are hoping the teams will ‘Remain’.
Of course, England could be expelled if there are further clashes involving their fans, although it was interesting to see the Russian sports minister appluading his fans after their hooligans had launched an attack on English fans.
There’s another ‘Brexit’ threat in the offing, an early exit by the home teams from the Euro 2016 championships could hit pub takings. Owners are hoping the teams will ‘Remain’.
Of course, England could be expelled if there are further clashes involving their fans, although it was interesting to see the Russian sports minister appluading his fans after their hooligans had launched an attack on English fans.
Pubs expect to sell an extra 40 million pints of beer and make £60m in extra profit. Beer sales are expected to go up by 17 per cent. This year’s championships are the largest to date with 20 extra matches, although it is difficult to see some of them drawing much of a crowd.
Steve Martin at Punch Taverns told the Financial Times. ‘It’s the biggest ever opportunity for pubs, but it’s vital that England make it out of the group stages. ‘Each England game is worth an extra day’s trading to us,’ he said. The day after England crashed out of the World Cup six years ago was the busiest ever day for holiday bookings.’
After the 1996 tournament, when England reached the semi-finals, UK consumer spending grew by 100 basis points, according to an analysis by Lloyds Bank. After the team’s earlier exit in 2012, spending fell 60 basis points.
There is a distinction between ‘wet-led’ pubs and gastropubs. What some pubs gain in beer sales they risk losing in food takings, as fewer families visit gastropubs when a big match is on. Young & Co. won’t be focusing on football nearly as heavily as some other pubs. Their incoming chief executive Patrick Dardis said, ‘The last World Cup drew some customers who were pretty awful’.