Beer and football, best friends for the Euro

Get set for a month-long celebration of football as the European Nations Cup gets underway in France.

But it’s not all about 22 men running after a leather ball under the sun – for small businesses, reeling in the punters and selling as much beer as they can is the highlight of the season.

“Sports bars or pubs that advertise they will be screening the game get a surge of business throughout the period,” Philip Fenech, the GRTU’s section president of hospitality and leisure said.

“Conversely, those places not so well known for sports gatherings register a drop in business,” Fenech said, indicating that patrons don’t congregate as much for the game itself as for the atmosphere it generates.

“It seems intuitive that the teams most preferred and supported by Maltese football-enthusiasts would see bigger crowds coming to enjoy the spectacle,” Fenech said. Even a spokesperson for Farsons, the brewer, confirmed that interest in their products remains high as long as Italy and England remain in the game.

“But even the games’ climate plays an important role. The closer the competition gets to the final, the bigger and the more excited the audiences get,” Fenech added.

In its annual report for 2014, Farsons even acknowledged that both growing tourism numbers and “the summer World Cup event remain important factors which will influence the group’s business performance.”

“It is a known fact that such events and activities do normally attract crowds and therefore we do experience a positive effect on our sales in general. Also with Carlsberg as the official beer of Euro 2016, an uplift in sales is expected since a number of sponsored events are planned,” a spokesperson for Farsons said.

There’s no question for Fenech that beer is the most popular beverage asked for during the football season.

“Lager louts – they just sit back, scream, and enjoy the game with a cold beer at hand,” Fenech joked. “But no one causes any real trouble… sports bars don’t normally have pre-made agreements with the police. When football games are aired in public spaces, the police normally get involved to make sure everyone can enjoy the game safely and everything goes smoothly, but other than that the games are normally quite peaceful, so the establishment’s security would be more than enough.”