Giving pubs a sporting chance

For the past 20 years or so, each January, I’ve jetted off to New York City for a retail technology conference, and while there, I’ve (obviously) ventured into many bars, breweries and taprooms. This year, I skipped my annual American jaunt but still felt the need to experience at home that US-style dive bar showing sports on multiple screens and selling bucket loads of wings and fries.

In London, the most authentic bar of this ilk (in my opinion) is Bloodsports – opened by MeatLiquor founder Scott Collins. Although he has previously stated that, with the benefit of hindsight, it might not have been a sensible idea to open a new place when the core MeatLiquor concept was undergoing great strain in an unrelenting marketplace. But from a selfish perspective, I’m pleased he did, because I feel it is a unique proposition that has become one of my favourite drinking venues in Central London for sporty/dive bar vibes that are so rare to find in the UK.

The reality is that sports bars of any description have been something of a rarity across the country. Yes, there have been the odd outliers such as The Famous Three Kings in Fulham. I used to visit it annually when judging a national pub awards some years back, and it invariably won its category each time because there was so little viable competition. But things are changing, and growing numbers of pub and bar operators have cottoned on to the fact the public has an appetite for watching sport in pubs.

I know this is hardly a startling revelation, but with the advent of competitive socialising and experiential activities in the hospitality sector, it has undoubtedly focused greater attention on showing live sports. There has been a – rather slow, I’d suggest – realisation that rather than spending gazillions on weird things like axe throwing, there is serious mileage to be had from the rather old-school concept of showing live sports.

But we are not talking about simply sticking a few TVs up on the wall for the major sporting events. This is instead about venues dedicated to showing a whole variety of live sports (mainstream as well as esoteric) at all hours on high-end equipment that have dedicated areas for showing different sports and offer efficient table service delivering relevant food offers and so on.

ETM Group recognised the opportunity ahead of most others and has built an impressive portfolio of quality units in London as well as embarking on a joint venture with St Austell Brewery, opening Ludo sports bars in the south west of England. The recent appointment of Colin Sadler, formerly of Professionals at Play, highlights how ETM has understood that experiential leisure and sports bars are effectively two halves of the same game. Customers don’t necessarily have to actually compete in something; they can simply watch other people competing. Sadler will lead the charge on more openings across the UK.

Others are following its move, with Marston’s recently stating it is considering converting 600 of its pubs to new formats including up to 250 to its sports-led format Grandstand, which currently numbers 30-plus outlets. The conversions have led to increased frequency and boosted average spend.

Dipping its toe in the water at Chatham Maritime Marina is Shepherd Neame. which has converted its Pier Five Bar and Kitchen into Sin Bin, which is dedicated to live sport and social gaming with multiple large screens showing various sports. The conversion proved itself a winner in its early days of trading – with the first Saturday’s takings the highest recorded in Shepherd Neame’s seven years of operating on the site, according to the manager when I made a visit. Following this lead, Nightcap recently announced it is to launch a new sports bar concept called Side Hustle.

I’ve not yet mentioned the World Cup, but I must. It is predicted to provide a serious fillip for the pub sector, and no doubt deliver a bonanza for the dedicated sports bars. There are certainly some impressive stats being bandied around as the tournament approaches the knockout stages. As many as 34% of consumers plan to watch matches in their local pub or bar, according to the GO Technology report from Zonal and NIQ. And these consumers are forecast to spend £536m on drinks and £361m in hospitality venues during the competition, which is 103% higher than the World Cup in 2022 and 46% above the 2024 Euros, according to Voucher Codes.

This is mouth-watering stuff for pubs and bars that are in much need of some positive trading and can temporarily forget about all the other challenges they face. But what they shouldn’t forget about is the value of bringing communities together for live sports and other televised entertainment. The success of the growing numbers of sports bars springing up around the country and delivering strong results suggests that showing live sport is not just for the World Cup.

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.