How to make the most of the Winter World Cup?

Johnson Reed
4m read

To celebrate the launch of JR’s World Cup sweepstake campaign, this article will look at how the hospitality industry can benefit from this one-off occurrence of having the World Cup in the winter months. Here are three simple, yet effective ideas that could help your business achieve its “goal” of profit, and ultimately “assist” with offsetting the expected energy price increases heading our way this Christmas time.

 

Plan early

Whilst this isn’t exactly an idea itself, it is quite possibly the most important section of this article. England’s Euro final heartbreak against Italy peaked at 30.95 Million viewers (The Guardian) showing just how many people have an interest in the national team tournaments. Even though this was in summer, filled with nice weather, light evenings and BBQ’s, research done by DesignMyNight suggest that 19% of England fans are okay with the tournament being held in Winter, and around 30% said they would happily watch the games in heated beer gardens.

What does this mean? Well, this means it will be your amenities that will influence the decision of customers as to where they watch the game. If you are wanting to upgrade your premises, now is the time to start thinking about actually getting this furniture. Whether it is increasing your indoor seating, investing in more TV screens or preparing your outdoor areas for winter with heaters or canopies, then now is the time to set the wheels in motion.

Finance plans are available through our equipment leasing options which can assist with planning budgets and cash flow, allowing you to repay for your new equipment as you use it rather than one large outlay.

 

Ticketed events

Adding exclusivity to your events, especially for the England games, is a great way of guaranteeing customers that they will have a seat and unobstructed view of one of the TV screens in your premises. With 51% of people choosing where they watch the game based on atmosphere (DesignMyNight), there is a high likelihood that fans will be choosing to watch in public places as a pose to just at home. There is the possibility of charging more for specific parts of the pub with a better view of the screen. If you can hold the capacity, you will be able to fill it.

This enables you to guarantee revenue before the game has even kicked off and additional purchases made on the day (probably lots of beer) is a bonus. This can just be another way of making the most out of monetising the World cup for your business.

 

Creative World-cup themed ideas

With the tournament running for a whole month, there are plenty of different promotions you could run in this time.

There is the possibility of hosting some World cup themed pub quizzes or country specific quizzes. This will enable you to draw the right crowds in and will also act as a side activity when some of the less interesting games are on!

You could also offer some limited edition menu items based on countries in the World cup. This can be food, cocktails or even beer from the 32 participants, all acting as an incentive for visitors to attend your pub.

During the big matches, specifically when England are playing, the bar area will tend to be extremely busy so a better way to take orders is an online service. Ordering and paying at the table will keep service flowing and will reduce the likelihood of the fans enjoyment of the game being disturbed by large hordes of people standing around the bar. Make sure you are promoting your specials so customers paying online are exposed to your offerings. This will make your operations seem more seamless and convenient. Furthermore, ordering and paying at the table is common practise across all leading catering businesses. A new loan offering called a Merchant Cash Advance loan allowing you to repay your loan through a fixed percent of all card terminal payments has become available, removing the need for monthly instalments, making the paying back process less noticeable.

 

To conclude

There is a lot of potential for monetary gain to be made from this World Cup for small operators in the catering and hospitality industry. Now is the perfect time to enquire about a leasing or loan agreement with JR, as we launch our external World cup sweepstake campaign. With only 32 slots available, it is best to enquire sooner rather than later and get involved in our sweepstake, whilst gearing up your own services for the actual World cup!