Six Nations to Euro 2028: pub marketing for major tournaments

To market your pub around a major tournament, announce your plans six to eight weeks out, open bookings once kick-off times are confirmed, then post on every match day. Next up are the Six Nations from 5 February 2027, the Women's World Cup in Brazil from 24 June 2027, the Rugby World Cup in Australia from 1 October 2027 and Euro 2028 from 9 June 2028.

#Which major tournaments are coming up in 2027 and 2028?

Five are worth planning for, and two already have every kick-off time published. The table only includes dates checked against the organisers or the national unions, and says so where fixtures or times aren't out yet.

Our hospitality marketing calendar for 2027 puts these next to the bank holidays and other big trading dates.

#How should a pub market the 2027 Six Nations?

Plan around the day of the week, because the 2027 schedule mixes Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. According to the fixtures Irish Rugby published, the championship opens on Friday 5 February with Ireland v England at 8.10pm and finishes on Saturday 13 March. All the times below are UK time.

Two Friday night games (Ireland v England on 5 February and Scotland v Ireland on 5 March, both 8.10pm) are made for dinner bookings. Get a "dinner and the rugby" post out a fortnight before each one, with a table booking link and a set menu if you do one.

The two Sunday games kick off at 3.10pm: England v France on 14 February and France v Scotland on 21 February. That's a Sunday roast slot, and 14 February is also Valentine's Day. I'd sell both: roasts and the rugby in the bar, a screen-free set menu in the dining room for couples who'd sooner not watch.

Most Saturdays have two games, at 2.10pm and 4.40pm, which means an all-afternoon crowd. Push the food that keeps people in their seats between matches. Then there's Super Saturday on 13 March, with Italy v Wales at 2.10pm, England v Scotland at 4.40pm and Ireland v France at 8.10pm: that's three games and roughly eight hours of trade, so open bookings for it early and treat it like a bank holiday.

One gap to plan for: there are no matches on the weekend of 27 and 28 February, between rounds three and four. Have something else ready to post that weekend.

The Women's Six Nations follows from Saturday 10 April to Saturday 15 May 2027, and Irish Rugby says all five rounds are Saturdays, finishing with England v France. Check kick-off times nearer the day, and give it proper posts of its own: it's a second run of rugby Saturdays after the men's tournament ends.

#How do you market a Rugby World Cup that kicks off at breakfast time?

Sell breakfast. World Rugby's schedule for the 2027 tournament runs from 1 October to 13 November 2027, with 24 teams and 52 matches across seven Australian cities, and the evening kick-offs over there land in the UK morning. Scottish Rugby lists Scotland's pool games at 7.15am, 10.45am and 7.15am UK time, and England's three pool games convert from the local times to 11.15am, 10.45am and 9.45am.

The final is at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday 13 November at 8pm local time, which is 9am in the UK. Note that UK clocks go back on 31 October 2027, partway through the tournament, so from that date a Sydney evening kick-off lands an hour earlier on the UK clock than the same local time did in the pool stage.

The marketing writes itself if the kitchen's up for it: a bacon roll and coffee deal for the 9.45am England v Wales game, a full breakfast for the 7.15am Scotland games, brunch through to the end of the 10.45am games. Post the breakfast offer with the kick-off time in the first line, because "7.15am" is the detail people need to see.

#Can you open early to show the games?

Check your licence before you promise anything. In England and Wales, serving hot food and drink is only licensable as late night refreshment between 11pm and 5am, and the same Home Office guidance says live TV isn't regulated entertainment, so a 7am breakfast-and-rugby opening usually comes down to whether you can sell alcohol that early. If your premises licence doesn't cover it, a Temporary Event Notice has to reach your council at least 10 clear working days before the event (a late notice can go in up to 5 working days before, with tighter limits), costs £21 and covers fewer than 500 people. Check any planning conditions on your opening hours as well. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems, so ask your licensing board or council.

I wouldn't build marketing around the very early games (Wales v Zimbabwe at 3.45am, Ireland v Uruguay at 4.45am) unless you're sure of your licence and your staff.

#What do we know about the 2027 Women's World Cup?

The dates and the host country, but not the matchups or kick-off times yet. The FIFA Council confirmed it will run from 24 June to 25 July 2027 in Brazil, and FIFA's match schedule announcement puts the final at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, with the next version of the schedule due after the final draw.

Brazil is behind the UK, so games will land later in the UK day than the local kick-off suggests, but don't print anything until FIFA publishes the times. Once the draw's done and you know who's playing, the plan is the same as any summer tournament: announce, open bookings for the home nations' games, post every match day.

#How should pubs plan for Euro 2028?

Start thinking about it in 2027, because it's on home soil and the kick-off times are friendly. UEFA's tournament schedule has 51 matches in nine stadiums across eight cities: Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London, where both Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley are used. The FA says the tournament opens on Friday 9 June in Cardiff and ends with the final at Wembley on Sunday 9 July at 5pm, with kick-offs at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm UK time. The semi-finals are at Wembley on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 July.

The matchups aren't known yet. UEFA says full matchday details will follow the final tournament draw in 2027, so you can block out the dates now and fill in the teams later.

If you're in or near a host city, there's a second audience: visiting fans who need somewhere to watch the games they don't have tickets for. Glasgow venues should also watch for the rules under the UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Act 2026, which includes a ban on advertising within event zones (the Hampden Park zone and any other Glasgow zones the Scottish Ministers define in regulations).

#A tournament marketing plan, from eight weeks out

Six to eight weeks is long enough to fill the big games and short enough that people don't forget. The timeline works for any of these tournaments.

A few things make the difference once it starts. Re-check every kick-off time the day before you post it, because knockout fixtures are only confirmed as each round finishes. And repeat the booking link in every post, because most people won't see every post you make. Our guide to matchday posts for sports bars covers the individual posts hour by hour, and how to promote live sport in your pub has the year-round basics.

Email earns its keep during a tournament, too. A fixtures-and-menu email before the first game and another before the knockouts start reaches the regulars who don't follow you on Instagram; our guide to email marketing for pubs and restaurants covers how to send it.

The Rugby World Cup lasts about six weeks, which is the most a single Venuesmith plan covers: describe the games you're showing and the breakfast offer in a sentence, edit the drafted posts, and approve the lot in one go.

#What are the rules on sweepstakes, logos and opening hours?

Three sets of rules matter during tournaments, and the sweepstake rules are the ones I'd read twice.

A pub sweepstake for customers is a customer lottery, and the Gambling Commission's rules are strict. Adverts for it can't be posted online or sent by text or email, so it can't go on your Instagram or Facebook at all. Tickets have to be physical and sold only to customers on your premises, players must be 16 or over, prizes must be under £50, and you can't make a profit. Put the poster up behind the bar and leave it there.

Logos are the second. FIFA describes ambush marketing as marketing that cashes in on the interest in an event without authorisation, giving promotions that use tournament designations as an example, and it promises its sponsors exclusive use of its marks. Leave tournament logos, trophy images and mascots off your posters, describe the games in plain words ("England v Wales, Saturday 9.45am, breakfast from 8") and never call your pub an official venue.

Opening hours are the third, covered in the Rugby World Cup section above. And the usual drinks rules still apply: in England and Wales the mandatory licensing conditions ban irresponsible promotions, which is why I'd never run a free shot for every try.

This is general information, not legal advice. For anything you're unsure of, ask your licensing authority or a solicitor.