World Cup quarter-final projected to boost UK economy by £493.6m
11 reported
According to a single-source report from The Guardian, the World Cup quarter-finals are expected to generate a near half-billion pound sales increase for the UK economy, with the England-Norway match on Saturday projected to account for £385m of that total. The estimate, from analysis firm GlobalData on behalf of VoucherCodes.co.uk, forecasts an overall uplift of £493.6m across the UK economy during the quarter-finals. Venues showing the game, including pubs, outdoor fan zones, and cinemas, are expected to benefit significantly. The British Beer & Pubs Association said the sector is expected to make £27.5m from pouring an extra 5.5m pints on Saturday. The tournament has already boosted hospitality, with UKHospitality reporting pub sales up 77% on matchdays compared with a typical Tuesday. Online electrical retailer AO.com reported TV sales up 23% year-on-year throughout June, and delivery services like Deliveroo and Tesco’s Whoosh saw surges in orders during England’s previous match.
What’s reported
The quarter-finals are projected to generate a £493.6m sales increase for the UK economy, per GlobalData on behalf of VoucherCodes.co.uk.
The England-Norway game is forecast to account for £385m of that total (£280m for retailers, £105m for hospitality).
The British Beer & Pubs Association expects the sector to make £27.5m from an extra 5.5m pints on Saturday.
UKHospitality reported pub sales up 77% on matchdays compared with a typical Tuesday.
AO.com said TV sales were up 23% year-on-year throughout June.
Deliveroo overnight orders nearly doubled during the England-Mexico match compared with the previous week.
Tesco’s Whoosh recorded one of its busiest-ever days during the Mexico game, with ice-cream sales up 64%, crisps and snacks up 45%, and lager up 44%.
O2 data showed food delivery app traffic up 169% before kick-off and iPlayer traffic 24,581% above normal at 4am during the Mexico match.
Boxpark CEO Matt Snell said each match could be worth £500,000 in sales; tickets for the quarter-final sold out by lunchtime on the day they went live.
The Co-op Live venue in Manchester sold out its 2,000-capacity fanzone for the game in 48 hours.
The Kenton Arms pub in London, run by Egil Johansen for 17 years, expects a majority Norwegian crowd (70:30 or 80:20) for the match.
Key figures
Egil Johansen, landlord of the Kenton Arms pub in London for 17 years
Matt Snell, chief executive of Boxpark
UKHospitality (trade body)
British Beer & Pubs Association (BBPA)
GlobalData (analysis firm)
VoucherCodes.co.uk
AO.com (online electrical goods retailer)
Deliveroo (delivery service)
Tesco (supermarket)
O2 (mobile operator)
Vue and Picturehouse (cinema chains)
Co-op Live venue in Manchester
Sources: The Guardian
