World Cup 2026

As one of the biggest hospitality trading moments of the year, the World Cup doesn’t just bring fans through the door - it brings opportunity. Bigger crowds, longer dwell times, group bookings, and increased spend all hinge on one thing: how prepared your systems are.

With the games being hosted across the USA, Canada and Mexico, kick off times will fall much later than usual for UK venues - meaning your busiest trading hours are likely to shift into the evening and late night.

This tournament won’t just generate extra footfall; it will completely reshape your trading rhythm. Fans will arrive early, stay longer, and expect seamless service throughout extended match windows. That means your systems - from Bookings to Aztec POS, Acquire, and Loyalty - need to be fully optimised to handle the unique pressures and opportunities of North America–based fixtures.

We’ve collated some high-level guidance giving you the essential actions to take now to stay ahead of the rush, maximise conversions, and deliver an unforgettable match day experience - every single time the whistle blows.

Click on each of the headers to find out more and how and/ or why we think you should implement or take these things into consideration.

Your Tournament Teammates

We're in your corner, from setup tweaks to tournament-day confidence, our Customer Success team is here to help you make the most of the busiest weeks of the year. Just reach out to your Zonal Account Representative.

With demand for tables, packages, and group events surging during the World Cup, it's vital that your booking work flows are fully optimised. Proper set up helps prevent overbooking, ensures deposits are taken correctly, and guarantees smooth match‑day operations.

You may also want to introduce some additional plans and layouts to manage you days differently – that usual table of 2, you might be able to squeeze 4 on to it if it's drinks only, or that table that usual stands alone, for the big game you may want to join it up to maximise opportunities for those group bookings.

You can even take the opportunity to implement Extras as part of the booking journey. Who wouldn't want a bucket of beers pre-paid for and on the table for when you arrive?

Check your Capacity

Whether you’re extending your opening hours, or adjusting your service times for group bookings, keeping your information up to date is essential.

Clear, accurate details help guests plan ahead, manage expectations, and avoid confusion during the busy hours. Make sure your capacity settings, opening times, and menus reflect your offering. For a quick guide on how to stay on top of these updates, check out the manage capacity topic including a key element of creating special days.

Create Special Plans & Layouts

Careful planning of your venue layout - right down to table sizes, joins, and daily variations - can make all the difference. With so many large groups and special bookings, having clear, adaptable plans in place helps your team stay efficient, maximise covers, and provide a smoother guest experience.

To find out how to optimise your layouts and plans, we have guidance on how to navigate the manage sites tabs, including how to combine varying turn time templates, layouts into bespoke plans.

Packages, Extras and Pre-Order

Pre-ordering can help play a vital role during the sporting season, helping hospitality venues stay organised, manage demand, and deliver a great guest experience. By encouraging customers to pre-order, operators can plan stock, staffing, and service more effectively - reducing waste and avoiding last-minute stress.

Extras offer you the great opportunity to entice those booking to purchase at point of booking. Find out all about Extras here.

We cover everything from the high level of what our menus and pre-order functionality offers, down to how to test pre-order menus once built and even troubleshoot.

Be prepared though - if you are adopting pre-order functions through this time, we strongly recommend testing ahead of service. With the hours being quite different to your standard operating hours, there will be auto timed triggers that you most likely will need to change (understand more about your pre-order send times).

Loyalty plays a key role during major tournaments like the World Cup, when fans are more likely to visit multiple times across fixtures. The right loyalty set up can help drive repeat visits, increase spend, and keep your venue top of mind throughout the competition.

Build your Rewards

Rewards should be simple, achievable, and compelling enough to encourage repeat visits across the tournament.

Set up incentives based on behaviours that matter most to your business. This could include rewarding supporters for purchasing a certain number of drinks or food items, visiting on multiple matchdays, or engaging during quieter fixtures.

Rewards can be instant, such as a free item or BOGOF offer, or points‑based, allowing customers to build value throughout the competition.

Choose from a wide range of reward types - from items for visits and spend‑based rewards to promotional offers - and tailor them to suit match days, peak trading times, or key fixtures. The more relevant and easy the reward is to understand, the more likely fans are to participate and choose your venue over competitors.

Browse the full list of Reward types that you can set up, from BOGOF to Items for Visits there's a whole list of options for you to get creative to be more appealing than your competition.

Match days provide major revenue opportunities. Creating well‑timed promotions increases spend per head and improves customer experience - especially when systems are configured to apply offers automatically.

Why not offer some pre-match incentives to bring the crowds in earlier. Some pre-match snacks or sharing platters on a BOGOF deal?

With matches running late into the evening, extended trading hours may push activity past your standard rollover time.Be sure to review some of your usual setup. You may either want to make the changes in advance, or simply be aware of how it may impact your reporting figures.

Understanding Rollover Times During Late Trading

If your Rollover Time isn’t adjusted in advance, any late‑night sales may fall into the next trading day, which can affect reporting accuracy, financial summaries, and end‑of‑day processes. To avoid this, review and update your Estate Rollover Time ahead of any planned late openings, and make sure all sites are informed of the change.

For example, if your current Rollover Time is set to 01:00 because you don’t typically trade beyond that point, but you plan to stay open until 04:00 for a late Scotland match, all sales made after 01:00 will automatically be logged against the following day’s trade. This may cause confusion when reviewing daily performance or reconciling revenue.

To maintain clear, day‑by‑day reporting, we recommend temporarily updating your Rollover Time to 05:00. This gives teams enough time to complete end‑of‑day tasks such as closing tills and cashing up, while keeping all sales from the late event within the correct trading day.

Keep in mind that the Estate Structure applies the Rollover Time across the entire company, so any changes you make will affect every site. Before updating this setting, also consider whether it impacts bespoke reporting, automated processes, or any integrations you rely on.

Food Platters, Drinks & Pitchers

If you're setting up any special offers or promotions, you need to remember to configure these products in advance, and preparing the necessary recipe information to ensure stock is correctly depleted.

  • Add new recipes or standard line items in Product Modelling

    If you need to create any new portions such as a jug or pitcher these can be managed in Base Data → Product Configuration → Portion Types

  • Add the prices for your new products in the Price Matrix

  • Add the products to the required Shared Panels in Theme Modelling

Other Information

If you want to sell your new food and drinks through any guest ordering channels remember setup products and add to menus iOrder Platform:

Create Promotions for Match Day Incentive

Promotions are a great way to encourage sales and add a bit of sporting cheer. You could combine a drink with a meal or snack, or offer discounted prices during quieter periods to boost footfall.

Take a look at our guide on creating promotions you can easily add Timed offers, BOGOF promotions, or Multi Buy options to make your sports menu even more appealing.

For negotiated pricing for an entire venue hiring or within selected sales areas, Event Pricing provides a quick and easy way to adjust prices on the point of sale terminal exactly when you need to.

Alternatively, if you’d like to offer a simple discount to surprise and delight your guests, find out more here.

Deposits

During busy periods such as the World Cup or any other seasonal occasions, deposits are often taken to secure tables or large party bookings. If you’re taking deposits directly through the terminal, it’s a great time to refresh your knowledge with our deposit management videos.

You can also visit our Bookings (deposits) page, where you’ll find all the information you need on managing deposits effectively in the point of sale.

Adding New Booking Deposits

Adding Deposits to Existing Bookings

Redemptions

Bill & Receipt Footers

Highlight seasonal messages on bills and receipts, showcase special events, and inspire guests to make a booking.

Learn how to manager footers for single site locations here or make bulk changes across multiple sites here.

World Cup fixtures drive substantial increases in drink and food consumption. Ensuring delivery schedules are correct - and stocking levels are adjusted - prevent outages and protect revenue.

Delivery Schedules & Exceptions

During busy periods, suppliers can often adjust their delivery dates and usual delivery times. If your supplier hasn’t already shared any changes, it’s a good idea to contact them to confirm their updated schedule. Once you have the new dates, update the delivery schedules in Acquire and record any exceptions to ensure everything aligns with the revised delivery arrangements.

Exceptions can either be manually added on uploaded from a spread sheet csv file, find out more here on managing exceptions.

Enhance your channels by adding count views, making it easy to see upcoming orders in the delayed orders column. Halftime, can generate a surge in demand, so it’s worth considering how this spike may affect kitchen workflows.

When offering features like order‑at‑table, remember that orders may be less immediately visible to front‑of‑house staff. Building in simple ways to surface and monitor these orders can help maintain smooth service and prevent bottlenecks.

Count View

A helpful feature available in Kitchen iQ Channels is the Count View, which displays the total number of items that need to be prepared. This can be configured to show one of the following: All Items, Order Lines at Actionable Stations (the stations defined for the channel), or Order Lines at or En Route to Actionable Stations.

The Count View includes a column for Delayed Orders, which could be from large party orders that have been manually entered on the point of sale, or pre-orders received from Bookings. This allows kitchen teams to see upcoming item totals in advance and plan preparation more efficiently.

For more information on how to add views to a channel, take a look at our Channels guide here.

Refresh menus and images to give your guest ordering channels a seasonal touch.

Sporting Media

Add a sporting touch to your products and menus with sports images. Refresh your Web Ordering or White Label App with a cheerful new look relative to your offering:

Availability

During the World Cup period, opening and serving times may vary across your locations. Update your availability profiles to reflect these changes by adjusting existing rules or adding new exceptions. This ensures your guest ordering channels show the correct times, helping customers place orders confidently throughout June.