Pubs, even clubs win from World Cup

• Source: Global Times
• [09:52 July 13 2010]
• Comments

By Ni Dandan

Though the 2010 FIFA World Cup may have ended in disappointment for the Dutch, downtown pubs in Shanghai managed to walk away from the event with deeper pockets.

Popular sports bars saw their revenues soar during the past some 30 days, thanks to customers crowding into their premises to follow the games.

Irish bar O'Malley's saw around 3,000 fans crowd in to watch the final between Spain and the Netherlands Monday morning, according to one member of staff who asked not to be identified.

"That was almost triple the average daily figure for the past month," he said. "Prior to the World Cup, we generally capped out at some hundreds of customers per night."

Steve Cliff, general manager of the Camel Sports Bar in Luwan district, told the Global Times Monday that its revenues were boosted by well over 50 percent during the World Cup, in line with a report by China Radio International that said some pubs in Shanghai and Beijing saw profits rise by more than half compared to normal periods.

Over at Wooden Box, a bar in Jing'an district that opened a month before the World Cup, profits are also up.

"The volume of customers increased by at least a half in the second month compared with the first month of business," Ha Xiaowei, owner of the bar, told the Global Times Monday.

Even venues that are not usually associated with sports saw some benefit from the World Cup effect. One such place was Obama Club in Changning district, which opened around the same time as Wooden Box.

"We catered to a different crowd for the special occasion, and it paid off," Fadoua Yaqobi, a member of the management team, told the Global Times Monday.

For new bars that missed the World Cup fever, there are more chances to thrive, according to Du Wenqing, manager of The 12th Day bar in Jing'an district, which had its soft opening on the day of the final.

"People will soon recover from having gone out to watch the game every night, and will be ready to party again," he said. "We'll be ready to make more profits then."