JD Wetherspoon, one of Britain’s largest pub chains has revealed it is to invest up to €50 million in building a presence within the irish pub market.
The chain extends to 800 outlets across Britain and the first such pub in Ireland is to be the Tonic Bar and Restaurant in Blackrock, County Dublin which is expected to be sold for around €1.5 million in the coming days.
Wetherspoon’s does not have a tradition of national sponsorship but does rate sport highly as a driver of business. On it’s main website it has a mapping application which enables customers identify the Wetherspoon pub most local to all major sporting venues.
In 2012 Chairman Tim Martin declared he was willing to ‘buy Andy Murray a pint’ in recognition of the role that major sporting events such as the Olympics, Wimbledon and the European Championships had played in delivering a record year of profit.
Local pubs have always been a source of funding and sponsorship for sports teams across Ireland though this has declined in recent years as the industry bore the brunt of the economic downturn and reduction in discretionary spending.
Many of the larger clubs now run their own licensed premises and encourage members to socialise within the club where possible. This is less of an issue in rural areas but it is in the larger towns and cities that Wetherspoon’s will look to locate.
The company has suggested it will have as many as 20 outlets opening over the next five years, and that it will create value for consumers by using its buying power to drive a 10-20% drop in prices.
There remains the question mark over alcohol sponsorship and sport in Ireland. Suggestions this year that an outright ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport alone has been pushed back to another review within the Taoiseach’s office with arguments about the impact on funding and the unfairness of sport being targeted in isolation will need to be addressed.
Key Take Away for Sport: Always worth looking to the business pages to see which are the companies that are expanding and have a connection to sport.
Key Take Away for Business: Sport delivers consumers who like to gather collectively around the major sporting occasions.
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