England are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup, and landlords will be looking forward to the next match on Saturday with eager anticipation.
A third of pubs who were able to take advantage of the blanket easement opened for the Mexico match on Monday morning, according to figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Oxford Partnership.
Almost six million pints were sold on Sunday night, the England-Mexico match fuelling an extra 1.25 million pints being sold.
“Pubs will now be restocking their beer ahead of the next England-Norway match because, as every football fan knows, there is no better place to cheer on the Three Lions than down your local.”
According to data from Dojo, the extended 28-hour session provided an average spending boost of 11% to venues across the UK.
Dojo’s insights have also revealed that pre-game spend remained consistently elevated from midnight through to 1.50am, with fans continuing to purchase drinks beyond the originally scheduled 1am kick-off. Between midnight and 5 am, spending saw the greatest peak at 1.50am as fans headed to the bar to top up their drinks ahead of the match.
Following this, a sharp drop in transactions occurred from the moment the game started. In comparison, spending remained consistently higher than pre-match during all four of England’s previous World Cup matches, reaching its peak immediately following the final whistle.
Stonegate Group, the UK’s largest pub company, saw venues across its estate pour 796,000 drinks as fans stayed up for England’s 2am kick-off against Mexico. That’s 355,000 more than a typical Sunday. More than 24,000 bookings were made for the early hours kick-off, across 717 managed pubs and Craft Union sites.
Spirits were the standout category on the night, up 30,000 on England’s last fixture, with 145,000 drinks sold, Stonegate reported.. Smirnoff Red was the single top-selling product, outperforming every draught line. On the draught side, 412,000 pints were sunk.
In a first for the tournament, Yorkshire overtook London as Stonegate’s top-performing region, pouring 126,000 drinks to London’s 124,000. It also topped the draught table, with 72,000 pints served. Walkabout Newquay was the group’s top individual site, serving 4,600 drinks and 2,300 pints.
“Our teams pulled out all the stops for a 2am kick-off, and the numbers speak for themselves, from record spirits sales to Yorkshire pipping London to top region for the first time,” said David Dowall, chief executive of Stonegate Group. “It’s a brilliant reminder of the role pubs play in bringing people together for the big moments.”
“Last night was something truly special,” said Jared Sedgwick, director of operations at Marston’s, which has more than 1,300 pubs and bars nationwide. “Around 450 of our pubs stayed open through to 5am, and the atmosphere was everything you’d hope for – passionate, community-spirited, and the kind of night that everyone who was there will remember for a lifetime.
“The numbers tell their own story. Between 11pm and 5am, over 120,000 drinks were sold, with our Grandstand locals sport pubs leading the way. The Swan in Mansfield, The Arrow in Yeovil, and The New Spires in Coventry were our busiest locals of the night, but, honestly, every pub that opened late delivered something brilliant.”
