Premier League worth £30,000 to pubs every season

The report, which analyses data from 10m searches on MatchPint for more than 2,000 pubs across the UK, investigates not only the most popular sports to be viewed in pubs but also the value of each sport and event to the licensed trade.

The report has found that football and specifically the Premier League is the biggest driver of sales for the on-trade with the average pub showing Premier League football seeing a £30,000 boost in wet sales every season.

Other sports, meanwhile, saw a one-off large impact for certain events. For example, in NFL, the Super Bowl nights give licensees a £1,000 trade increase on average.

MatchPint co-founder Dom Collingwood told The Morning Advertiser​: "The report shows that sport continues to be a profit driver for pubs: it is worth more than £80,000 in incremental wet sales per year. Even with subscription costs to Sky and BT hitting £20,000 in some cases, the profit opportunity is still clear.

"However, it's not all Christmas cheer. The devil is in the detail, and one message stands out from that detail: football is not enough. Incremental sales from Premier League football barely get you a 2:1 return on investment and that's before operating costs and duty are considered.

"Essentially, the message is: 'If you've got it (all), flaunt it (all)!' Yes, put the football on. But also put the rugby on, grow your NFL audience, order the big fights on Box Office and make sure you talk about it. That's how you make the most of sport."

An infographic showing more of the key findings of the report can be viewed here​.