Football fans are predicted to spend £368.3 million during the first knockout stage of the World Cup, which kicked off on the 3rd December, a new report reveals.
The World Cup 2022 Spending Report by VoucherCodes.co.uk forecasts that 12 million supporters around the UK will tune into the tournament during the Round of 16.
Rising costs coupled with the first ever winter tournament and irregular start times, mean that 9.3 million Brits are predicted to tune in from their homes during the Round of 16, in a bid to save money. This compares to only 3.2 million supporters who are expected to watch from their local hospitality venues.
With this in mind, retail expenditure during this stage of the tournament – involving eight matches in total – is expected to hit £273.3m, as fans flock to their local supermarket to stock up on match day essentials.
Football fans are expected to lay-out £174.4m on food and drink alone, with new TV electricals (£53m), sportswear (£34.7m) and souvenirs (£11.2m) also contributing to the total spend figure.
In comparison, hospitality spend is anticipated to reach £95m during the four-day period of the Round of 16 – £178.3m less than the total retail spend for this stage.
The first knockout round is set to produce the second-highest predicted spend throughout the tournament, after the group stage (£1.2bn). It’s anticipated that 7.1 million pints will be poured in hospitality venues during this stage of the tournament – a drop of 24 million pints sold from the group stage.
Anita Naik, Saving’s Expert at VoucherCodes.co.uk, commented: “Despite consumers being increasingly cautious with their money and a winter tournament playing havoc with fans plans, viewing figures remain high. Supporters are still finding ways to get into the World Cup spirit while keeping their spending down.
“To make their money go further, those watching the matches from home or in hospitality venues should shop around before stocking up on their football essentials and check VoucherCodes.co.uk, the perfect place to find discount codes. As the UK’s most trusted voucher website, they have exclusive discounts on food, drink, sportwear, TVs and more – all of which are hand-tested daily to make sure you’re getting the deal you’ve been promised.”
