Matchday posts for sports bars: what to post before, during and after

Good sports bar social media posts follow the clock on matchday: a morning post with the fixture, kick-off time, channel and food, a reminder two or three hours before, something quick from the room at kick-off or half-time, and a full-time thank-you that points at the next game. Show your own crowd, write fixtures in plain words and leave crests and competition logos out.

#What should a sports bar post on matchday?

Four or five posts, each with one job. The morning post tells people what's on and where to sit. The build-up post shows the room coming to life and nudges the people still deciding. During the game you post very little, and at full time you thank everyone and sell the next one.

The timeline below runs from the start of the week to the morning after. Treat it as a menu: a Tuesday night league game might only earn the morning post and a Story, while a derby or a final gets the lot.

Schedule as much of it as you can the night before. The half-time post in particular should already be sitting in the queue, because the last thing you want is someone behind a three-deep bar scrolling for the right photo. For general timing, our guide to the best time to post on Instagram covers when your followers are most likely to see it.

#Which sports bar social media posts belong earlier in the week?

The fixture list and the booking posts. Matchday posts land better when people already know the game's on at yours, so get the week's fixtures out on a Monday (day, kick-off time, teams, channel, sound on or off) and open bookings for the big games a couple of weeks ahead. Our guide on how to promote live sport in your pub covers fixture lists, bookings and the licences you need in more detail.

For the really big games, make a Facebook event from your Page as well (Facebook's help centre shows how). It's easy to share, and it gives the people who say they're going something to tag their mates in.

One thing never to post: a Saturday 3pm Premier League kick-off. The Premier League says no UK broadcaster is authorised to televise those games, so no pub can legally show them, and UEFA's list of blocked broadcasting hours shows the FA's window running from 2.45pm to 5.15pm UK time on most Saturdays between late August and late April. Advertising one on your own Instagram is a spectacular own goal.

#Matchday morning and the build-up

I'd treat the morning post as the most important one of the day, because plenty of people decide where to watch over breakfast. Get it out between about 9am and 10am for an afternoon or evening game, earlier for a lunchtime kick-off. Put five things in it: the fixture, the kick-off time, the channel, the food and how to book (or that walk-ins are welcome).

Two illustrative examples, both for a made-up pub:

"Derby day. Kick-off 12.30pm on TNT, doors at 11. Burger and chips £11 until full time. Screen-view tables in the bar are nearly gone but there's plenty of standing room. Book through the link in our bio."

"England v France, Sunday 3.10pm. Roasts until 2.30pm, then the sound goes up in the bar. It's Valentine's Day too, so the back room is a screen-free set menu for anyone who'd sooner not watch."

That second one works because the 2027 Six Nations has England hosting France on Sunday 14 February, kick-off 3.10pm. Check the date and time against the official fixture list the day before any matchday post goes out, though, because kick-offs do move.

The build-up post, two or three hours before, is about atmosphere. Tables laid, the screen being tested (photographed from behind, with nothing on it), the first pints going out, the kitchen getting the burgers ready. A real photo of your room beats any graphic here, and our food photography guide has tips for getting a decent shot on a phone in pub lighting.

#What should you post during the game?

Less than you think. Your staff are there to serve, and nobody follows a pub for live score updates when the actual broadcast is on the wall in front of them.

A couple of quick Stories of the crowd at kick-off and after a big moment are plenty. Keep the screen out of shot when you film, and keep the commentary low. The broadcast pictures aren't yours to post, and the Premier League says it takes a strong and active approach to enforcing its copyright, so a phone clip of a goal on your TV is a bad idea, however good the angle.

The half-time post is the one feed post worth making mid-game, and only if it sells something: "Half-time. Loaded fries are £6 at the bar until the second half kicks off." Schedule it for roughly 50 minutes after kick-off for football. If the start's delayed it'll be a bit off, which is a fair trade for not having anyone on their phone at the bar.

If a close-up of a customer ends up in a Story, ask first. Our guide to reposting customer photos covers getting permission for anything more than a crowd shot.

#What should you post after the final whistle?

A thank-you, a crowd photo and the next fixture, ideally within half an hour of full time while people are still in the building and scrolling. If your room had both sets of fans in it, keep the wording neutral. Nobody wants to drink in a pub that rubbed their nose in the result.

The next morning is your second chance. Post a carousel of the best photos from the day, reply to every comment, and share customers' Stories that tagged you (with their permission). Then point at the next big game and the booking link.

#How do you avoid looking like an official partner?

Describe the match in plain words and design everything in your own pub's style. Club crests and competition logos are protected brand assets, and the rights holders say so. The Premier League's terms state that no rights are granted to use its trade marks and logos without prior written permission, and Leeds United, to take one club, lists using its branding to promote goods or services without permission as unauthorised use.

The big tournaments go further. 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.

In practice, I'd stick to these:

• Name the teams and the kick-off time, in your own fonts and colours.
• Use your own photos. No trophy images, no club graphics, no tournament artwork.
• Never call yourself an official venue, partner or home of anything.
• Write any line-up or team news out yourself if you share it at all.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you're planning anything bigger than a normal matchday post, like a branded tournament campaign or paid ads, check with an IP solicitor.

#Matchday captions that work

A good matchday caption answers four questions in order: what's on, when, what's in it for me and how do I get a seat. Anything after that is personality, which is where your pub's voice comes in. Our guide to Instagram captions for pubs and restaurants goes deeper on writing captions people act on.

Keep the offer about food. Drinks promotions tied to the game run into licensing law: in England and Wales the mandatory licensing conditions ban irresponsible promotions, including free or discounted alcohol given as a prize to reward drinking within 24 hours where there's a significant risk to the licensing objectives, and in Scotland the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 treats alcohol offered as a reward or prize as irresponsible unless it's sealed and taken away. "A free pint every time we score" is out. "Burger and chips £11 until full time" is fine.

If several people write your matchday posts, consistency gets harder by the week. Venuesmith checks every draft against your brand rules (tone, banned words, caption length and hashtag style) with a separate reviewer, so if you add "official" and "partner" to your banned words, any draft that uses them gets rewritten before it reaches you for approval.