Pubs to pour five million extra pints during England v Norway World Cup clash
Pubs are set to score their biggest boost yet for the World Cup when they pour more than five million extra pints during England’s game against Norway this Saturday.
As many as 5.5m more pints will be served to thirsty England fans while the Three Lions face off in the quarter final in Miami, bringing the total drinks served to 20.4m pints, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has said.
The trade body has estimated that pubs will take £27.5m in extra sales on Saturday from pint sales alone, bringing total pub revenue from Saturday to more than £100m.
This smashes past the uplift seen during England’s last World Cup game, in which Thomas Tuchel’s team edged past Mexico in the round of 16.
During this game, which kicked off at 2am on Monday due to weather delays, pubs served 1.25m extra pints than on a usual Sunday night.
Labour urged to slash beer duty
The late-night kick-off time had threatened to cause a row between pubs and government, with licensing extensions set to expire during the match.
Sir Keir Starmer intervened at the last minute to extend opening hours until 5am. But Saturday’s 10pm kick-off time will have hospitality bosses hoping that the football can spur on an already-busy trading period for pubs.
Ahead of England v Norway, the beer industry has urged the government to cut taxes to allow pubs to take a bigger boost from future sporting events, pointing out that both countries have some of the highest rates of beer duty in Europe.
Emma McClarkin, the BBPA’s chief executive, said that England fans pay twelve times more in beer duty than in Spain.
She said: “We’re asking the government to bring permanent relief to the sector by bringing beer duty in line with the European average and implementing a meaningful draught discount, keeping pints affordable and pubs the home of live sport.”
Young’s takes World Cup boost
The UK’s hospitality industry has been facing rising taxes and employment costs in recent months and will hope that England makes it all the way to the World Cup final next week.
AIM-listed pub firm Young’s said earlier this week that England’s performance at the tournament so far has helped it to defy “challenging” conditions in the hospitality industry.
The hospitality group said its nine per cent jump in revenue in the last 14 weeks was in part driven by England fans watching the initial stages of the World Cup.
Its performance so far this year has been “supported by favourable weather, a busy summer of sport, with England’s success in the World Cup so far a welcome boost,” Young’s said.
The World Cup sales boost is set to hit supermarkets too, with Co-op forecasting its biggest day this year for sales of beer, lager and cider – with takings set to jump by 50 per cent on the previous weekend.