Taking competitive socialising back into pubs
Competitive socialising is something I’ve harboured reservations about for a number of years on the back of the flood of money that has gone into the category to inevitably fund some rather dubious concepts. This has led to saturation in some sub-categories. On top of this, there is the problem in the UK of there being only a modest number of locations that can support the sizeable venues associated with most competitive socialising concepts.
Fuelling the investment argument is the undeniable appetite of the younger generations to not simply go out for a drink, but to marry it with some form of entertainment. Competitive socialising has been recognised as an investable solution, with food and beverage sitting alongside a technology-energised entertainment – such as golf, darts, F1 driving, table tennis and axe-throwing etcetera – and many dedicated venues have opened.
While this trend has been sucking in the money and media attention, pubs have had to mainly watch from the side-lines. They’ve traditionally had the likes of darts, pool, and bar billiards in their mix, but these old-school activities have all too often been stuck in a corner largely unloved and with question marks hanging over whether they justify their square footage and ongoing running costs.
What’s surely been needed is a reboot of these traditional pub games in their natural habitats. As a pub lover who wants to see them thrive, I’m pleased to say that it’s now happening. While darts has successfully been reinterpreted through the likes of Flight Club in purpose-built environments, there is now the opportunity to have similar technologies operating on single boards in pubs from technology providers such as 501 Fun.
And we are just about to have the same reboot of pool with the creation of Poolhouse. When the first venue opens in February in its own large-scale competitive socialising space in the City of London’s Broadgate Centre, housing 20 tables and a quality food and beverage proposition, it will also be a showcase for the artificial intelligence-powered pool table technology that can be bought by pubs.
The idea is that the technology will recognise each players’ skill level and effectively introduce a handicapping system in a fun way by superimposing images on the table (via a projector on the ceiling), including obstacles like banana skins that should not be crossed, lest penalties occur.
Talking about this proposition ahead of its unveiling might seem premature, but the guys behind Poolhouse are the real deal in terms of competitive socialising. The founders, Steve and Dave Jolliffe, created Topgolf 25 years ago and sold it for $2bn in 2020. They also co-founded Puttshack in 2018 along with Adam Breedon, founder of Flight Club and F1 Arcade. This grouping is competitive socialising royalty.
Poolhouse has attracted interest from investors and is working with VAR creators Hawkeye to fine-tune the technology and technology advisor/investor Danny Potter, who co-founded Inamo, and also sector investor Andrew O’Brien, who has come on-board as chief executive. He fully recognises the opportunity for pubs, hotels and casinos to take the technology.
This can be as an upgrade to an existing table (it is estimated there could be around 4,000 currently in use in pubs and 9,000 in dedicated pool rooms) or taking a new table. There are different versions of the tables and technology at different price points – from the basic at £500 to high-performance kit at £7,500 – and revenue sharing models can make the numbers more digestible.
Maybe we will see this introduction of pool 2.0 prompt a turnaround in the declining numbers of pool tables in pubs, because whereas it is typically a two-person game, the new technology can turn it into a multi-player experience in the same way Flight Club has made darts a group affair. The handicapping aspect is also crucial in enabling a much broader group of pub-goers to embrace the game.
While I’ve been blackballing many of the competitive socialising concepts that have appeared in the market over recent years, I’m definitely looking forward to potting the black ball when this makeover of the traditional pub game opens its doors next year.
Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider
This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Beer Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.