What English clubs making Champions League history means for pubs
Collectively, the five English clubs achieved a win percentage of 70% – also a tournament record – in what was a season of remarkable group stage success for English clubs, which benefited from an extra group stage berth as a result of Manchester United winning last season’s Europa League.
With the draw for the last 16 stage having taken place this morning (11 December) what does Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and both Manchester teams’ progress mean for the UK’s pubs?
The last 16 draw in full
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
Basel v Manchester City
Porto v Liverpool
Sevilla v Manchester United
Real Madrid v Paris St-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
MatchPint co-founder Dom Collingwood explained: "Having five teams in the knockout stages is positive for three reasons.
“First, it ensures that on at least one match day there will be two British teams in action simultaneously. While the home viewing experience has improved drastically in recent years, one thing very view fans have access to in their own living rooms is multiple screens showing big matches at the same time.
"It's a great opportunity for pubs to differentiate themselves from the home, and attract football fans on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in February.
“Second, in Manchester United and Liverpool, you have the two most popular teams in British football playing a minimum of two additional games on TV. With both playing their second legs at home (as well as Tottenham and Manchester City), there's every chance they will still be in the ties for the second leg of second round matches in early March.
“But most significantly, it simply increases the likelihood that a Premier League team (or multiple clubs) will go deep into the tournament.
"Both search data and sales comparisons show that the Champions League grows in value to pubs as the tournament goes on, with the final regularly attracting twice as many searches than a big Premier League fixture on MatchPint, and research from MatchPint and CGA showing that the final is worth just north of £1,000 incremental wet-sales revenue to pubs that show it.
“A few good results in the second round, and we could be looking at a welcome sales boost for BT Sport pubs in early 2018."
