Highclere Hospitality has announced a new collaboration with Australian sports tour company Fanatics to introduce Fanatics Sports Bars to its portfolio of pubs.
Fanatics Sports Bars will embrace the perspective of a sports fan rather than that of a regular pub patron to ensure the best experience possible, combining live sports and events for a multi-faceted offering.
Leveraging the success of the sports podcast released under the FanaticsTV banner on YouTube, the bars will fuse the digital arm of the Fanatics business with each pub’s assets, allowing for live sports watch-alongs and the capability to film live podcasts and shows in-venue.
Taking a holistic approach, venues will also pour new Fanatics beers and sell both Fanatics merchandise and officially licensed merchandise for local teams.
Warren Livingstone, who owns both Highclere Hospitality and Fanatics, says while Fanatics has been a big part of his life for 28 years, and pubs for 12, it never made sense to connect the two until recently.
“Over the years we’ve been going to sporting events around the world and I have seen a lot of sports bars, so with that knowledge I want to try a different approach to what is already here in Australia, and I think we can do it as well as anyone.
“I think sports bars can be complacent – Fox Sports on TV, blaring sound, buffalo wings and some red uniforms. I’d like to think the Australian public has moved on from that,” Livingstone stated.
Creating dedicated sports spaces
Designed by Paul Kelly, Fanatics Sports Bars will each have their own unique concept tailored to the local community, says Livingstone, catering to the unique demographics of each pub.
“What I have realised since opening up in different areas is how different people’s habits and consumption patterns are across Sydney. In the west they drink mid-strength, eat out more often at pubs and like to punt. In the east or city, we hardly sell any mid-strength, we sell very little starchy food and the competition is closer,” he stated.
As part of a larger development application that will include new gaming, TAB, a bistro and sports bar, the Rose & Crown in Parramatta is first on the agenda.
“The Rose & Crown is a smaller space than my other venues but it’s a sports mecca with a 6am license so there will be emphasis on European sports and that will be clear in the design. It’s also the closest hotel to Commbank Stadium, where the Parramatta Eels play, so we will sell officially licensed Parra merchandise at the pub through our agreements, as well as our Fanatics supporter merch.”
Beyond the Highclere Hospitality portfolio, Livingstone says he is also in discussions with a large New South Wales club about the potential to open a Fanatics Sports Bar within the venue.
The future of Australian sports bars
While Livingstone jokes that he has spent enough time in sports bars to know a good one, his travels have given him unique exposure to the trends and consumer behaviours dominating these types of venues around the world.
Sharing his expectations for the future of the Australian market, he told Australian Hotelier. “I think sports and wagering will get closer and closer. It just has to.
“Government regulation might be tightening for mainstream advertising, but I believe in-venue will be huge. Sports, wagering and content consumption is streaks ahead in the US and Europe than it is for Australian sports fans, and that will play into the on-premise as it develops.
“A few betting companies have reached out to do a FanaticsBet with us over the years and we have tried to incorporate what that will look like in the short and long term in these designs. We will keep kicking that down the road for a while, but I definitely see a convergence.”
While Livingstone is optimistic about the role of sports in Australia’s pubs, he also highlights the challenging timing of US and European events, which make them far easier to watch at home.
“The other issue is that when it comes to live sport here, our sports are so fragmented. When I purchased the Charing Cross in 2014 everyone watched the Wallabies – the bar was packed for the Bledisloe. Now, people don’t watch the TVs that rugby is on. We have Stan there but there wouldn’t be a table a night watching Super Rugby,” he added.
“On the other hand, AFL has grown in that area to the detriment of rugby, and NRL has grown another leg. I think the big sports are getting bigger, NRL and AFL, while the marginal sports are struggling.”
With those things in mind, Livingstone emphasises the difficulty of generating return on a dedicated sports space when Australia has few live sporting events that people go to a venue to watch.
“That’s why investing in these sports bars are a risk and we have held off for so long. We are close to what fans think through our tours and community, but it makes sense to do these sports bars to compliment my other business and set the things up for the future,” he concluded.