Football fans are predicted to spend £2.75bn on items including beer, pizzas and new TVs during the men’s Euro 2024 tournament, which kicks off this week, scoring a much-needed boost for retailers, pubs and bars.
It will be the first men’s summer tournament since the pandemic without social distancing restrictions, signalling a badly needed boost for pubs and bars, in particular.
In the pubs sector alone, the British Beer & Pubs Association (BBPA) is expecting an extra 20m pints to be sold, taking the total to 300m pints served during the four weeks of the tournament and bringing in an extra £94m for publicans.
The wider hospitality sector could receive a £613.7m boost, according to research by industry analyst GlobalData Retail for the website Vouchercodes, while retailers are in line for a £2.1bn windfall from sales of goods such as televisions and sportswear.
An estimated 35.4 million supporters are likely to tune in and cheer or jeer the Three Lions and Scotland, helped by favourable kick-off times as the tournament is being held in Germany.
Almost half are expected to head to their local pub, bar or restaurant to watch at least one game, a 115% increase from the men’s last major international men’s event, the 2022 World Cup, held in Qatar during the winter months. High hopes for the England team mean fans are expected to spend an additional £172m on hospitality compared with the 2022 competition.
One of the venues eagerly awaiting the first kick-off is Dartford Sports Bar in Kent, which was opened by Chris Michaelas and his partner April on the same day that Boris Johnson announced the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2022.
“We were loading fridges, the DJ was setting up and Boris went on the telly in the afternoon saying all pubs have to shut tonight,” said Michaelas.
He said the Euro 2024 tournament would be the first to deliver them the takings boost typical for a summer sports event.
“For the Euros in 2021, we had instructions about where to sit and the ‘rule of six’ and one-metre spacing. We were unfortunate with the one-off winter World Cup last Christmas because it overlapped with our Christmas bookings, where we normally have a peak and watered that peak down a bit.
“This is our first proper summer tournament as a company. Our turnover will double; that’s the simplest way of putting it.”
The venue is doubling staff to 20 for the first England match of the tournament and has sold 1,000 tickets for games, which are shown on 24 screens in the bar, with sound piped into the garden and even the toilets.
Michaelas said the multicultural nature of the area had also delivered a boost from groups of people booking to see matches involving countries including Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Turkey, Slovakia and Scotland. “We’re just praying for good weather.”
Retailers are hoping that a bit of sunshine will help fuel a £2.1bn tournament-driven spending spree on food, drink and equipment for barbecues and alfresco pizza making, as well as electrical goods, such as new TVs, sportswear, and merchandise.
With TV sales lacklustre, and sports brands and retailers also hit by consumers reining in spending in the cost of living crisis, the 2024 competition could change fortunes.
Most sales are booked during the qualifying rounds, but a trip to the final for either of the two qualifying home nations will mean a stronger boost to spending and a feelgood factor that can mean better business for those not selling products directly linked to the tournament.
