20 September 2019, Pubs & Bars
The Rugby World Cup starts today and is scheduled for the next 6 weeks. From Vianet’s iDraught data we can see that rugby is one of the biggest sporting events to watch in the pub. This year’s Six Nations tournament saw an average uplift in volume of 26% in L&T pubs and 39% in managed houses compared to the average weekend pints poured. The biggest volume gains came when England, Ireland and Wales played each other. We will have to wait until at least the quarter final stages of the World Cup to see that.
Match times also aren’t ideal with some being early morning, but many are lunchtime fixtures and therefore as England, Ireland and Wales progress through the tournament the opportunity for pubs will increase. Without the luxury of all lunchtime or evening matches as with the Six Nations, pubs will need to seek out other opportunities from the longer tournament and the more teams participating.
In the first stage, England, Ireland and Wales have nine matches at weekends. Some are morning fixtures so, as with the South Korean Football World Cup in 2002, pubs can open early for breakfast and match screening. As our teams continue throughout this stage, momentum will grow, and fans will seek out the places where they can watch the matches in a group environment with a great atmosphere and pubs are best placed to offer that.
The trade may not see the benefit of volume increases as seen at standard lunchtime and evening sessions but it can gain additional volume from a weekend breakfast food and drink offer. And, as at least one of the teams will get to the finals, we can all capitalise on the feel-good factor that brings and the Vianet insight will be there to see how we really did.
