Cheers! England's place in final to bring £800m boost for pubs, merchandisers and retailers

The climax of the women's Euros, as the Lionesses attempt to atone for their loss to Spain at the 2023 World Cup, is poised to be the most-watched women's football match in UK history, with the tournament providing a boost of more than £800m to supermarkets, pubs and other retailers.

- Mark Sweney Sarah Butler

With tomorrow's showdown aired on both ITV and the BBC, and their respective streaming services, television industry executives expect that, with the help of a family-friendly 5pm kick-off, viewing will eclipse the 14.8 million peak audience when England lost to Spain 1-0 in Sydney two years ago, if the match is close.

England's series of thrillers, after a drubbing in the opening match, has seen the popularity of the tournament surge with Tuesday's semi-final win over Italy providing ITV with its biggest television audience of the year.

The growing momentum means that, by the final whistle tomorrow, it is estimated that the UK public will have spent more than £800m during the tournament, according to research by GlobalData for VoucherCodes. This is £221m more than was spent by consumers during the 2023 women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

On the day of the final, consumers are expected to spend almost £184m in pubs and other venues, as well as at retail outlets from supermarkets and sports stores to electrical goods sellers, and on merchandise.