Men are more likely to visit the pub for lunch with family or friends than to watch football on TV, according to the latest data from the monthly Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker.
The research discovered a new trend for 'lads who lunch' after finding that nearly half of men (43%) who visit the pub at the weekends are there to enjoy an afternoon meal rather than to watch live sporting events (19%) or play traditional pub games such as pool, darts, and table football (4%). In fact, the tracker found that spending on live sports events in general has fallen this year - the first three months of 2016 sustained a year-on-year decrease of 20%.
However, in welcome news for many hospitality operators, British household spend on eating and drinking out has been steadily rising this year, taking the figure to £216 in March, up 10% on the previous year. Eating out holds its position as the main leisure activity of choice when it comes to British household spend, with a particular increase in spending in this area amongst those living in London and the south east region compared to the rest of the UK.
This rise in consumer spend has been largely attributed to the excellent weather the country experienced over the Easter weekend as well as the fact that the bank holiday weekend fell earlier this year than usual. Fiona Gunn, Greene King group marketing director, commented: "Easter falling early this year saw many British households increase their leisure spending across the board... There was also the excitement of the Cheltenham Festival... and the fact that the school holidays allowed many families to enjoy some quality time together out of home."
The tracker offers evidence for this statement by revealing that although British households without children upped their leisure spend by £15 in March, those with children spent substantially more at £38 - an 18% increase in spend.
The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker is conducted on a monthly basis by YouGov, gathering research from 4,000 British households.
