The latest BrandTrack survey by CGA by NIQ indicated nearly half (46%) of British consumers plan to watch the Euro 2024 football tournament with two in five (40%) of those planning to watch matches in pubs and bars.
In addition, more than three quarters of the 5,000 consumers surveyed (79%) said they expected to visit the on-trade more often during the 31-day tournament, which kicks off on Friday 14 June in Munich and runs until Sunday 14 July.
However, venues CGA urged operators would need to offer “compelling reasons” to attract people to their venues to watch the matches, with 21% of respondents opting to stay home in order to spend less.
Further research from CGA, in association with Sky Business, also revealed consumers watching games spend an average of 36% more than those who don’t visit pubs and bars for live sport while 87% of sports fans said they would stay longer in a venue if sport was on.
Right formula
Moreover, nearly as many (83%) would spend more on food and drink on these occasions than on non-sporting visits and 89% were more likely to revisit a pub or bar if they know games are screened.
CGA client director Violetta Njunina said: “Euro 2024 brings some great opportunities for pubs, bars and drinks suppliers—especially as this will be the first major football tournament that is free from COVID restrictions for six years.
“But it’s important to remember while many consumers are eager to watch the Euros, many are still affected by the cost of living crisis, while others aren’t interested.
“For all venues, balancing the needs of these very different consumer groups, and finding the right formula of value and atmosphere to tempt sports fans out of home, will be crucial.”
Category wise, the BrandTrack data showed match days at the last Euros and World Cup triggered big uplifts in trading for the LAD (long alcoholic drinks such as lager and beer) segment, with sales 14% higher on 2022 World Cup match days than on the equivalent days in 2021.
Separate data from Oxford Partnership also revealed the previous tournament, which was delayed due to the pandemic, delivered a 9.4% uplift in beer and cider draught volume, equating to an extra £4,970 per outlet and an additional 64 pints per game.
Strong performance
In addition, Oxford Partnership said the projections for this year were “much brighter”, as many operators were forced to turn customers away during the 2021 games due to ongoing restrictions.
Moreover, the additional 14 days that England remained in Euro 2020 improved sales by 13%, which was a 31% uplift versus Euro 2016 at 18%.
This comes as the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) last week predicted more than 300m pints could be poured across the on-trade during the tournament meanwhile data from DesignMyNight showed there had been more than 60,000 online searches for pubs screening the matches by the end of May.
In addition, last month the Government confirmed pubs would be permitted to stay open until 1am if England or Scotland make it to the semi-finals or finals of the Euros later this summer.
Oxford Partnership CEO, Alison Jordan said: “We are genuinely hoping the Euro 2024 tournament will deliver a huge boost to the UK hospitality industry, with some big games early on that should set the scene nicely.
“There is no doubt there is a proven correlation between the length of time one of the home nations stays in the tournament and the growth in sales of draught beer and cider, as evidenced by the volume data provided by Vianet for Euro 2020, so we are all hoping for a strong performance from both home teams.”
