The survey found that more than half (54 per cent) would not be visiting the pub more this year than in 2011 and 13 per cent actually intended to head to their local less in 2012 despite it being a strong year for sport on the box.
Over 2,000 people were questioned for the survey, conducted by Opinium Research, and the top three factors that influenced where sports fans choose to drink and watch sport were revealed to be location, drinks price and the size of the TV screen.
Size matters
Nieve Cavanagh, senior product marketing manager at Casio Projectors, who commissioned the research, said when it came to pubs planning how to attract sport-loving punters it was a case of 'size does matter'.
"In a tough economic climate, most pubs and bars are facing very real financial pressures, and realistically, there’s a limit on what venues can and can’t do. Lowering the price of booze will mean taking a significant revenue hit; a change in location is impractical, and landlords can’t really control factors such as atmosphere. But audio-visuals (AV) can be relatively easily upgraded," she said.
