The World Cup Impact on Business

An analysis by The Daily Telegraph in June showed that 33 companies had referred to the World Cup in stock exchange announcements as having 'a material effect on their business.'

Not surprisingly, eight of these companies were bookmakers, who could always expect a big sports tournament bonanza. ITV, Sports Retailers and of course Pub Companies were also expecting a profitable month. Even though the England Team didn't do a great deal for profits after their Qualifying Round exit, pubs would continue to benefit from the Tournament with PricewaterhouseCoopers reporting that a fifth of all people watch the World Cup in a pub!

Pubcos such as Punch Taverns, Greene King and Fuller's,have said in recent weeks that the good summer weather and football World Cup boosted sales. Meanwhile JD Wetherspoons which doesn't usually show sporting events at its pubs reported that the world cup had little impact on business.

The biggest winners have been the economies of The Netherlands and Spain, according to BloombergBusiness; Their national economies will have received a boost simply from being a finalist, but economists have forecast that Spain's triumph could add as much as 0.25 percentage point to annual economic growth. “Dutch consumers, traditionally conservative spenders, will become euphoric if the country wins the World Cup, boosting economic growth as they step up spending,” On the other hand, “Spain could prevent full-year economic contraction by winning,” said Schotsman, the author of an April report titled “Soccernomics 2010” that predicted a Spanish triumph this year.

UK Pubs Celebrate England World Cup Success

World Cup dreams kept alive as trade looks forward to bumper weekend reports the Publican

Pubs are celebrating with relief after Jermain Defoe’s goal against Slovenia rescued the trade from a disastrous World Cup.

Such was the suspected ease of England’s qualifying group – which also contained football minnows the USA and Algeria – that many pubs had budgeted for increased takings from at least four World Cup matches.

However, after two limp draws before yesterday’s decisive fixture it was looking as if England could fall at the first hurdle.

Failure to get past the group stage would have been devastating for thousands of pubs, many of which have built their summer around a successful campaign.

Defoe’s winning goal was worth millions to the trade as it set up a second round clash with Germany that will boost trade for many pubs on Sunday lunchtime and evening.

Ian Payne, chairman of Town & City Pub Company, which owns brands such as Yates’s and Litten Tree, said the Slovenia game was worth £425,000 for the business.And Mark Daniels, licensee of the Tharp Arms in Chippenham, Newmarket, said the victory could potentially see takings trebled on Sunday.

World Cup Dress Code an Issue in Reading Pubs

Reading Police plan to speak to pubs in the town about their policies for fans wearing football shirts after England matches. A spokesman said “One issue that has been identified was a number of venues welcomed fans wearing football shirts during the match, but once it finished they were given an option of either changing or going elsewhere. We will work with those venues this week to clarify what their clothing policy is and to ensure that customers are informed of the policy up front.”

The major bars showing matches all said they welcomed fans in football shirts but policies varied.

There were no serious incidents in town on Saturday night despite thousands of fans packing the pubs for England v USA, but officers plan to talk to pub managers about better publicising their clothing regulations.