Though Nepal still has a long way to go to be able to play in the foot­ball World Cup, the craze among Nepalis for the biggest sports tourna­ment in the world is unmatched. Busi­nesses were quick to capitalize on it. Be it the cafes, restaurants, pubs or bars, crowds cheering on their favorite teams could be seen everywhere. Places that were relatively quiet prior to the World Cup had come alive as people came in to watch their favorite teams play. Says Ravi Pradhan, the owner of the Sports Hive (Bar) in Jhamsikhel, “During World Cup match-days, business have been up by nearly 50 percent compared to regular days, with almost 300 people coming to every watch.”

 

Lokraj Joshi of the All-Star Sports Bar in Chakrapath says pretty much the same thing. “Our business had doubled. The place is jam-packed every time there is a match,” he says. Even the sale of electronic appliances such as television sets and speakers rose drastically during the World Cup. “There was around 70 percent increase in business when the World Cup started. But it is back to nor­mal now,” says Animesh Chitrakar of the New Superstar Enterprises at New Road.

 

The World Cup had a positive impact on liquor, sportswear and merchandise businesses as well. Cheers, an online liquor store, claims 70 percent increase in sales since the start of the World Cup, whereas Arun Sigdel, the owner of Sanepa Madira Store reported around 25 percent increment.

 

However, Kritika Sapkota from Bhadrakali Sports Pvt. Ltd says that the business of selling official jerseys and other World Cup-related merchan­dise was not as robust as it used to be during the previous World Cups. “Since all the hyped up teams lost in early stages this year, the excitement went down. Thus there was only around 20 percent increment in business, half the level seen during previous World Cups,” says Sapkota.

 

Sagar Chanda from the Sports Uni­verse in New Baneshwor concurs. “Though sales in merchandise such as footballs is decent, the rate at which the business increased was not satisfactory. Since the major teams were out of the tournament early people were not as excited, which drastically affected our business.”