The Government expects roughly half of all pubs in England and Wales to show England matches during the World Cup, as it confirms plans to relax trading hours during the tournament.
Under the changes, venues in England will be allowed to trade for four hours from kick off for all England games starting at 8pm or later, lasting until no later than 1am.
Three quarters of the c1,500 respondents to the consultation were in favour of relaxing licensing hours for England games.
The Home Office estimates that between 28,000 and 32,000 pubs will show England matches, with an additional 9,000 to 17,000 other licensed premises screening the games.
The Government estimates that the benefit to businesses of the move will be £1.1m, based on the expected money saved by not having to apply for Temporary Events Notices.
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) said the overall saving the industry, local authorities and police is likely to be more than £2m per game.
Nigel Wright, chief operating officer of TCG, said: “This is a welcome result which will help to ensure a great atmosphere in pubs during the World Cup. We are gearing up for a festival of football this summer and encouraged all our managers to respond to the Home Office consultation. As with the action on alcohol duty in the budget, it shows that the Government will listen to the trade’s concerns when we show a united front.”
ALMR strategic affairs director Kate Nicholls said: “This is a great result for the industry which will ensure that football fans can enjoy the excitement of the World Cup in the enjoyable atmosphere of the pub.
“The relaxation will alleviate the need for thousands of pubs and bars to apply for costly and time-consuming Temporary Event Notices, saving the industry and local authorities around £2,500,000 per England game and will ensure a much welcome boost in trade.
“The full, four-hour relaxation will also ensure that fans will be able to disperse in a safe and orderly fashion at full time. The pub remains one of the safest and friendly places to enjoy high profile sport, and we are pleased to see the Government acknowledging this.”
Brigid Simmonds, British Beer & Pub Association chief executive, said: “It’s really great news, which will put pubs at the heart of a great national event. I am particularly pleased that the Government has really listened, and made sure that common sense prevailed, granting the full four hours after kick off for England games, as we had asked.
“I’d like to thank the hundreds in the pub trade who responded, making our views loud and clear.”
