Big days of sport this summer
June 18 Rugby union: Australia v England, New Zealand v Wales, South Africa v Ireland; Racing: Royal Ascot; Euro 2016: Belgium v Republic of Ireland; F1: European Grand Prix qualifying; Golf: US Open
June 25 Rugby union: Australia v England, New Zealand v Wales, South Africa v Ireland; Euro 2016: Three last-16 clashes; Boxing: Anthony Joshua v Dominic Breazeale
July 10 F1: British Grand Prix; Tennis: Wimbledon men’s final; Euro 2016: final
July 16 Golf: The Open; Test cricket: England v Pakistan; Rugby league: Catalans Dragons v Wakefield Wildcats; Darts: World Matchplay; Tennis: Davis Cup quarter-finals
July 24 F1: Hungarian Grand Prix; Test cricket: England v Pakistan; Darts: World Matchplay final
August 13 Olympics: Athletics at the Rio games (including Jessica Ennis-Hill finishing the Heptathalon, Greg Rutherford in the long jump and Mo Farah in the 10,000m); Football: First day of the Premier League season.
Finbar Holian, landlord of the Hendon pub, has been a Sky customer for 25 years and prides himself on being able to show every kind of live sport in his venue, with Sky Sports enabling him to do
just that.
“Here, our customers have a place they can come and enjoy sport with their family and friends. The Claddagh Ring can provide comfort for both small and large groups who want to watch sport and can offer them a wide selection of food and drink while doing so.
“Sky Sports has been helping pack my pub for decades, and my business has been very successful together with it.
“We serve food from 9.30am right through to dinner until 10pm. We have a vast menu, everything from sandwiches and jacket potatoes for the lunchtime crowd right through to grills, burgers, steaks, curries and, of course, traditional Irish stews.”
With so much live sport on Sky, Holian ensures the Claddagh Ring makes the most of its multiple viewing cards to ensure it can cater for all customers’ needs.
“If a customer comes in and asks for something to be shown, even if they are the only customer that wants to see it, we’ll make sure we put it on at least one of the screens.
Multiple viewing cards are a part of Sky’s Go Further range, a selection of added-value products to help drive pub businesses, and the Claddagh Ring takes full advantage, with Sky Sports Preview magazine — which comes with full TV listings and four fixture posters — among the products Holian uses.
“Sky’s coverage keeps our customers aware of what sport is coming up but we make full use of the posters that Sky sends us both inside and outside the venue. Sky Sports Preview magazine is also very useful for us, with the TV listings allowing us to let customers know what’s coming up over the next few weeks.
“When it comes to marketing, we use our website to make people aware of what’s going on and social media is also important in bringing people in — particularly Facebook.”
Holian’s enthusiasm for sport extends to the rest of the staff who are encouraged to keep right up to date with what’s coming up on Sky.
“A good mix of our staff already have a strong interest in sport and so they are able to interact with customers about sport and the live coverage that’s coming up. It’s very much part of our staff meetings and we encourage our staff to be up to date with what’s going on. That really makes the customers feel they have a common bond with the team.”
- This case study was first published in Sky Sports Preview magazine, free each month to all Sky Sports pub subscribers.