Sports fans drinking alcohol, ordering takeaways and firing up their barbecues are set to provide pubs, supermarkets and off-licences with a multimillion-pound boost this weekend.
Two million extra pints will be served at pubs across the country, according to forecasts from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), as legions of fans descend on their local to watch sports.
The eating and drinking frenzy is expected due to the unusually high number of major fixtures, including World Cup cricket matches, the Champions League final, the Premiership Rugby final, the Derby at Epsom, and a title fight for boxing’s heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in New York in the early hours of Sunday.
With an extra boost from the expected hot weather, the BBPA said pubs could earn an extra £5m – with £1m in alcohol duty ending up in the hands of the revenue.
“Major sporting events provide a great opportunity for pubs to get people through the door and can contribute as much as £5m extra revenue to the pub trade,” said BBPA’s chief executive, Brigid Simmonds.
“When it comes to watching live sport, only being at a fixture itself can compare with being in the pub. We fully expect Brits to pack out their local on 1 June for a great day of sport.”
UK Hospitality, which represents the broader hospitality sector, reported a rise in pub and restaurant bookings for Saturday. “No doubt with the expected warm weather it will make for a busy weekend and a welcome boost in sales for the sector,” said its chief executive, Kate Nicholls.
Domino’s says it expected to sell sell 40 pizzas a second on Saturday, delivering more than 1.7m, which would make it the restaurant chain’s busiest day of the year so far. It expects peak ordering time at 7pm – an hour before the Champions League final kick-off – and has drafted in 3,000 extra pizza chefs to cope with the rush.
Supermarkets are also expected to receive a boost from people planning to enjoy the weather with a barbecue, watch sports, or both.
Asda predicted a 35% rise in beer sales and are promoting deals for Spanish beers, cava and tapas to mark the choice of Madrid as the location for the Champions League final.
The warm weather is also expected to produce a run on rosé wine. Rebecca Hull, wine buyer at Waitrose, said: “We closely monitor the weather as a rise in temperature of even just a few degrees will see a change in what our customers are shopping for. We are anticipating a rush on rosé this weekend as the weather is set to warm up. We expect sales of the wine to double in comparison to last weekend.”
Supermarket chain Morrisons, however, is trying an unusual approach to cash in on the sporting festival, offering discounts on toothpaste they say can help users acquire a dazzling grin akin to that displayed by Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Champions League finalists Liverpool.
“Jurgen’s teeth are such a thing of beauty that if you type ‘Klopp’ into Google, the first result on autosuggest is ‘teeth’,” the supermarket said.
“Morrisons is paying tribute to the German’s teeth by offering as much as 50% off […] whitening toothpaste.”
