Top places for UK holidays this year
After a warmer than usual spring, attention now turns to the summer months ahead. Longer
Game, Set, Pints!
Wimbledon helps to bring in over £1BN to the pub industry according to Public First and Sky Sports.
Our Love of Tennis
Wimbledon is fast approaching, so how can you make sure you’re acing it this year?
With an average of around 524,000 attendees over the past three years, Wimbledon stands as one of the UK’s most popular sporting events. Being the oldest tennis tournament worldwide, Wimbledon has been instrumental in solidifying tennis as the world’s leading racket sport.
However, tickets are difficult to get hold of due to such high demand. There are a few ways to get tickets to these matches, the most popular methods being The Wimbledon Public Ballot and ‘The Queue’.
The Public Ballot is a tradition that has been around since 1924 and is the most common way of getting tickets to Wimbledon. The ballot opens for a short time in September the year prior, and tickets are randomly assigned to applicants five months later in February. There’s no guarantee you will get a ticket; you cannot choose the matches you want to watch, and you can’t pick the dates you want to attend which makes this method quite restrictive.
Alternatively, tennis fans can try their luck with The Queue. The Queue opens up on each day of play during the tournament, and you can choose either a Grounds ticket, or a much more limited Show Court ticket. Tickets are then sold on a first-come-first-served basis, they are only sold singularly as one per person, and they are non-transferable. Unlike tickets to most other music or sporting events that are available online, The Queue is an on-site line in Wimbledon Park with some hopefuls even joining at 2pm the day before the first match and camping out overnight.
Therefore, it is no surprise that people may be more inclined to enjoy the experience from outside the grounds.
In 2024, the tournament garnered over 50 million streams online in the UK. The highly anticipated men’s singles final, ending in Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Novak Djokovic, captivated a peak audience of 7.5 million viewers.
Sport in hospitality
It is no secret that sport, and hospitality go hand in hand. With roots all the way back to the ancient Olympic games, people travel far and wide to see sporting greats go head-to-head. But as things have evolved over time into more large-scale events, enhancing the fan experience is more important than ever. Public First and Sky Sports found that during 2023, 1 in 3 UK adults watched live sport in a pub, club or bar.
There are plenty of hospitality businesses that are planning on serving up a storm this year, combining their love of tennis with their passion for food and drink (especially strawberries and cream washed down with a glass of Pimms!)
Showing sports events in pubs and bars is a great way for hospitality venues to attract customers during off-peak times, boosting their revenue. In fact, Public First and Sky Sports found that they generated an extra £1.1BN for British pubs.
How Can You Take Advantage?
Music plays a key role in arenas before major sporting events, building a powerful atmosphere of anticipation, excitement, and exhilaration, so try getting your customers in the mood by playing the official Wimbledon playlist from 2024, which features over 6 hours of classic sounds, upbeat tunes, and tracks used during the tournament’s TV coverage.
If you are planning on showing Wimbledon in your venue this year, make sure to keep track of the matches by using the official Wimbledon schedule, and don’t forget to ensure you are appropriately licensed to support the talented people who create the music you are playing.
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