THE UK’S ‘COMPETITIVE SOCIALISING’ DEMAND HOTSPOTS, REVEALED

Edinburgh, Coventry, London, Leicester, and Sheffield Were Most Likely to be Searching for Competitive Socialising Keywords in 2021

Edinburgh is the UK’s ‘competitive socialising’ hotspot, new research has revealed.

The research, conducted by Home Leisure Direct, analysed search volume data for various competitive socialising related keywords – including for arcade, darts, foosball, mini golf, pinball, pool, shuffleboard, snooker, and table tennis – to discover the demand for related products and venues across the UK.

Three keyword variations were analysed for each game (one generic, one location-based, and one product-based), and the totals for each game were calculated before comparing them against each out to form an overall ranking order. More than 550 data points were analysed in total.

The overall UK findings revealed the following:

Rank	Competitive Socialising Game	Total* Average Monthly Searches(2021)	Generic Average Monthly Searches(2021)	Location Average Monthly Searches(2021)	Product Average Monthly Searches(2021)
1	Pool	156,400	90,500	5,400	60,500
2	Snooker	152,700	135,000	2,900	14,800
3	Darts	151,480	90,500	480	60,500
4	Mini golf	94,080	60,500	33,100	480
5	Arcade	83,800	49,500	22,200	12,100
6	Table tennis	43,200	22,200	2,900	18,100
7	Shuffleboard	23,970	22,200	170	1,600
8	Pinball	16,550	6,600	50	9,900
9	Foosball	9,820	4,400	20	5,400
	All 9 games combined	732,000	481,400	67,220	183,380

*Across all 3 keyword variations

Based on this research, across the nine games analysed, there was a combined average monthly search volume of 732,000 – almost 9 million searches per year overall. Pool, snooker, and darts saw the biggest search volumes in 2021, each with average monthly search volume of more than 150,000 – almost two million searches each per year overall.

As well as analysing UK figures, city-level data were also analysed for the 20 UK cities with the largest populations. Looking at average monthly searches across all nine games, the findings revealed that Edinburgh, Coventry, London, Leicester, and Sunderland were amongst the cities which were most likely to be searching for competitive socialising keywords.

Ordered from most monthly searches per capita, the top 10 cities for the highest competitive socialising demand included:

1. Edinburgh
2. Coventry
3. London
4. Leicester
5. Sheffield
6. Reading
7. Liverpool
8. Sunderland
9. Stoke-on-Trent
10. Bournemouth

Edinburgh took the top city spot for four of the nine games, including darts, foosball, mini golf, and pinball. London secured three top spots – arcade, shuffleboard, and table tennis – and both Coventry and Leicester topped the list for one game each (pool and snooker respectively).

Andy Beresford, co-founder of Home Leisure Direct commented:

“With more and more people conscious of their health, time, and money, going out for a boozy night in a club has drastically diminished. Gone is the time when a mere conversation is enough to stimulate our minds – we want memories, experiences, and something way out of the ordinary. To capitalise on the boom in ‘competitive socialising’, vendors should try to provide the entertainment and individuality that represent value for money to these consumers. It’s a challenge that a range of suppliers and manufacturers are ready to meet with passion, expertise, and imagination.

“This is where the future of ‘competitive socialising’ comes in, with leisure activities evolving in recent years from classic pub games to utilise modern technology and give punters maximum bang for their buck. The most popular types of competitive socialising in the UK have traditionally been closely linked to pubs and include pub quizzes, snooker, pool, and darts. That said, people are finding new ways to disrupt the traditional competitive socialising market, introducing other games such as table tennis, shuffleboard, and more!

“Games can now be made accessible to people of different ages and abilities by tweaking them with technological advances. Ultimately, this makes venues more appealing to a wider demographic, but also the enhanced games will add a new dimension to customers’ experiences”.

For more information on the research, visit: https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/blog/hld-news/competitive-socialising-hotspots.html