Lionesses and late licences set to deliver £135m boost to UK economy
Pubs will be allowed to stay open until 1am tonight for the Lionesses’ Women’s Euros semi-final with Italy as the UK economy gets set for a boost of more than £135m.
The Home Office announced plans in May to extend licensing hours if England reached the last four of the tournament and they were approved by Parliament last month.
“Nothing quite brings people together like watching our national football teams, which is why we want fans to be able to enjoy every minute of these matches,” said Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson.
“We will extend licensing hours to allow supporters to watch and celebrate together, for longer.”
The Lionesses, the defending champions, meet Italy in Geneva for a place in Sunday’s final, where they would face Spain or Germany.
Football fans are expected to spend £136.1m watching and celebrating the semi-finals, according to consumer forecasts.
Most of the retail spending is expected to come from food and drink (£88.2m), but fans are also forecasted to fork out £6.8m on sportswear, £4.1m to purchase merchandise, £2.5m for decorations, and £2.5m for electricals, such as new speakers and TVs.
Women’s Euros contribution tops £800m
Hospitality venues are also set to benefit, with a £32m outlay expected for the midweek semifinal which will see Sarina Wiegman’s side take on Le Azzurre.
The Women’s Uefa Euro 2025 Spending Report was compiled by analytics company Global Data in partnership with VoucherCodes.co.uk. If the Lionesses qualify to the final, the impact to retail and hospitality sales will be even more significant.
The spending report forecasts £112.9m to be spent on retail if England play the final on Sunday. Hospitality spending is expected to exceed £70m for the final, including £21.4m spent on food and £49.4m on drinks.
But the drinks figures are not just alcohol. While the report estimates 51.8m pints of beer and cider to be consumed throughout the tournament, football fans across the UK are also expected to consume 18m cups of tea, more than 15m glasses of juice and smoothies and almost 8m cups of coffee, in line with the tournament’s more family-friendly atmosphere.
In total, the report estimates that Women’s Euro 2025 will contribute £801m to the UK economy: £566.4m from retail and £234.6m from hospitality spend. The forecasts in the report are based on the assumption that England reach the final of the tournament in Switzerland.
The Lionesses started the tournament by losing their opening game 2-1 to France, but reached the semi-finals following group stage wins against Wales and the Netherlands, and a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Sweden in the quarter-finals.