GREENE KING GIVES PUB CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE REASONS TO VISIT THANKS TO INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION IN TRADITIONAL PUB GAMES

Greene King, the country’s leading pub company and brewer, is meeting demand for competitive socialising with traditional and next generation stay-to-play games which aren’t just entertaining customers but driving footfall and boosting sales.

The original competitive socialising game, pool, continues to lead the way, with darts and shuffleboard playing their part in this ever-increasing pub revenue stream.

With changing customer behaviour, Greene King is investing in the roll out of traditional and digital in-pub games as people are looking for more than just food and drink when they go out. Today’s competitive socialising trend is connecting customers across all demographics with a new generation of the traditional games including digital darts, digital pool table management and engagement, and electronic shuffle.

There are over 600 pool tables across Greene King’s 1,600 managed pubs. Tables are dual payment enabled (cash and card) and income delivers over £2 million annually, excluding any drinks and food sales associated with gameplay.

Darts and shuffleboard, though modest compared to pool, are steadily expanding across the pub estate, contributing over £200k in sales in 2025. Of the 560 plus dart boards, over 50 are digital with plans in the pipeline to double the number of digital darts lanes. More than 13.7 million darts were thrown into Greene King’s dart boards in 2025.

Greene King has 37 shuffleboards currently and last autumn, Greene King installed the first electronic shuffleboard as it continues to evolve its leisure experiences. The SHUFL Tech table at The Thieves Kitchen in Worthing has the first camera-tech powered auto-scoring board, replacing the analogue version marking a big step forward in tech-led gameplay.

Clair Preston-Beer, Greene King’s chief digital and commercial officer, said: “The appeal of competitive socialising is undeniable. Our customer insights show it’s connecting across all demographics. It’s no longer niche, it’s becoming mainstream.

“Over the past years, we’ve seen something exciting take shape across our pubs; stay-to-play is growing and it’s proving to be more than just a passing trend. People want to meet up in person and play a game in the pub, and it’s easy for customers to book to play these games through our app which helps drive loyalty with in-app offers and rewards. Despite seasonal swings, the summer keeping people outdoors or international football tournaments taking attention away, our stay-to-play products are

showing real resilience and encourage repeat visits. New names in the darts world have rejuvenated the sport and there is a huge appetite for people to play in our pubs. The introduction of digital darts and the SHUFL Tech table, for example, are not just a product swap, they are a step forward in digitising and gamifying our leisure offer, while improving customer experience, footfall and spend.”