Britain’s pubs are being told to expect a bumper FA Cup Finals weekend, with up to 14 million people expected to hit bars across the country to spend an estimated £507 million.
According to new research from Carling, the official beer partner of the Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup, more than half of the UK adult population plans to watch one or both of this weekend’s finals – and two in five of those will choose to do so at a pub, bar or other venue.
Given that the adult population of the UK is over 54 million, if the 26.5% of respondents to the Carling survey who said they would go to a pub over the FA Cup weekend are a representative sample, that scales up to that national footfall of over 14 million.
Those fans are then expected to spend on average £35 per person during their Cup Final visit, delivering a significant boost to pubs and bars nationwide.
When it comes to preferred matchday drinks, Carling said that beer was the ‘clear favourite’, preferred by 42% of respondents compared to just 10% who chose wine and 6% who opted for spirits and mixers.
Carling’s brand director at Molson Coors Beverage Company, Lee Willett, said: “The FA Cup is such a special tournament in both the men and women’s games, and a real key date in England’s sporting calendar.
“Few things pair better with a blockbuster match than a proper pint, and the numbers back it up. If you’re screening the game, make sure the bar is well-stocked with go-to lagers brands that football fans look for.”
Carling, which became the first brand to sponsor both men’s and women’s FA Cups in 2023, was the lager brand consumers most associated with football in a recent survey by marketintelligence firm Pro Quo.
It remains one of the top-selling lagers in the UK on-trade, selling more pints – 290m – in hospitality venues than any other in the year to the end of January 2025.
