Can Starmer’s late-night World Cup openings help Britain’s struggling pubs?

Late Opening Rules

The UK government has relaxed licensing rules to let pubs and other hospitality venues stay open later during World Cup match days, adapting to the time difference with co-hosts US, Mexico, and Canada. Under the scheme, games starting between 5pm and 9pm allow pubs to stay open until 1am, while 10pm kick-offs extend closing time to 2am.

The extension applies only to matches featuring home nations England and Scotland. In England, it kicks in from the knockout stage; in Scotland, most councils have allowed late openings from Scotland’s first World Cup game in nearly 30 years against Haiti on 14 June.

Limited Impact

Although theoretically 13 of the tournament’s 104 games could benefit from late hours, in practice far fewer will. For instance, if England win their group, their first knockout game is on 1 July at 5pm, likely ending around 8pm, leaving little demand for five more hours in the pub.

The first real late game may be the quarter-final on 11 July, starting at 10pm and possibly finishing after 1am. Both the semi-final and final would qualify for 1am closing.

Snags and Objections

About 3,000 UK pubs are only licensed until 10.30pm on Sundays, and the final kicks off at 8pm on Sunday 19 July. Extra time or penalties could push the game beyond that cut-off. Landlords must apply for a temporary events notice (TEN) by 3 July to stay open later, but refusals are final, and some may have used their annual quota of 15 TENs.

Uncertainty also surrounds weather delays. Some pub owners hope for flexibility to keep showing the match even if alcohol sales must stop.

Will It Help?

Overall, the World Cup is expected to boost pub revenue: the British Beer and Pub Association predicts an extra 55 million pints sold, worth £275 million. However, the late-hour extension alone won't solve the sector’s deeper problems. Pubs are closing at a rate of two per day due to rising costs, and industry figures say the measure is welcome but limited.

Dawn Hopkins, landlady of the Rose Inn in Norwich, commented: “It’s definitely a bonus, but a lot of regular customers have only got so much money to spend, so it won’t make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.”