September the 18th sees the kick off of the last big sporting event of 2015, the Rugby World Cup. For the first time since 1991 the tournament is making its way back to England, meaning that there’s more at stake than ever for not just the Lions or the other 3 home nations, but potentially for each team competing.
However, even if the pressure of playing on home soil is too much for the domestic squad, England as a whole has perhaps already won. Even if we don’t triumph on the pitch, the overall economic benefit of the cup is set to have on the country is huge. Over the 48 games of the tournament, an estimated £2.2 billion is set to be generated through tourism, merchandise, and the various recreational activities carried out by the fans and record 466,000 international visitors set to attend.
Perhaps one of the greatest (and least surprising) sources of revenue is alcohol, as the below stats from promotional products supplier Stay Sourced show. They’ve taken a look at each of the World Cup’s 13 stadiums, working out how many pints on average fans are set to consume per game. Unsurprisingly, the bigger the venue, the heavier the drinking is set to be.
It’s worth saying that at last year’s England vs Ireland Six Nations game, Twickenham stadium sold over 160,000 pints. That’s around 2 per person, including kids, who we guess might not have been taking part in the revelry. With this in mind, the numbers in the infographic are probably pretty conservative, especially when you take into account the drinks set to be sold in the fan zones, bars, and pubs around each host city.
The opening ceremony and first games of the cup take place this Friday at Twickenham, with a strong England XI coming up against Fiji. In the meantime, take a look at more stats at Stay Sourced, and get ready with the full fixtures list on the official RWC 15 site.
