The football season is now underway! The most-watched competitions: the Premier League and Champions League have already seen some dramatic matches and it’s only just getting started!
For pub and bar owners, they must ensure that they are the venue of choice for punters to witness all the twists and turns along the way.
Showing sport is a must for a pub. According to CGA, a market measurement consultancy, sport is worth £83,000 a year in wet value alone to a pub and nearly half of that figure is for football alone. The average charge to pubs and bars showing both Sky and BT sports is around £20,000 per year. Whilst a large figure, there is a healthy return to be had on the investment.
Getting it right with pub football fans
There are plenty of options available for football fans to get there fix of the football nowadays: the average home has a high quality TV to watch a match, they could go to a friends or family members house or even watch it from their smartphone on the go. If you are going to show football matches, pubs need to make sure they make it appealing to visitors. No one will visit if the image and sound are poor and there isn’t anywhere to sit.
Quality equipment paired with a good atmosphere and a wide selection of food a drink will leave customers happy to keep coming back. Offers, promotions and loyalty cards are other ways of getting customers to return through your doors for the next big game. You could do something creative such as assign a specific drink to each team in the league. This drink will then be discounted when the said team are playing on screen.
Attracting happy football customers to your pub
There’s no denying the draw of Premier League games in particular. If done correctly, operators can establish a strong customer base. It goes beyond the matches, too. Once the punters are in, just 26 per cent leave less than half an hour after a match and 85 per cent arrive within 60 minutes of the game, according to MatchPint.
Having an adequate amount of seating available for customers is essential in making their experience a good one; especially for those that arrived early to get a good space. If there isn’t enough seating, this could drive some customers to go to a venue where there is space for them to enjoy the game.
Even if they are only used for the big matches, it’s recommended to have some backup seating. Stacking chairs can be easily stored away and brought out on an occasion when they are needed. For a more traditional pub-look, browse our pub furniture