It’s the season of good times for football fans worldwide. In Kochi, the streets are abuzz with fan posters; flags of competing nations adorn our walls and team jerseys are flying off shelves. While the World Cup matches officially kick off on June 12, for Indian viewers, that’s the wee hours of the morning on June 13. With this in mind, Kochi’s all-night cafes and sports bars are quickly cashing in on a ready audience that will stay up all night to root for their sporting idols.
Crowne Plaza’s cafe, Aroma, turns into an all-night venue from this week onward. “Since most of the matches are at odd timings, many of our inhouse guests and cafe regulars showed interest in nightly screenings, so we’ve made our cafe the hotel’s football hub,” says Chinnu Jimmy, assistant manager, PR. The cafe hosts a large television, beers and mocktails specially designed for the season and pastries named after footballers or football terms. Their ongoing mango promotion will continue at the cafe under new titles, and short games with freebies are also planned closer to the finals. “We’ve organised guessing games for our customers on which player will score the most goals, get the most red cards, etc,” says Chinnu.
At Chillax cafe on the Bypass, the staff have gotten into the spirit of the game by switching their regular uniforms for Brazil and Argentina jerseys. “Since we have limited space at the cafe, we’ll just be screening all the matches live on a television for our guests,” says Roni Jacob, partner at Chillax. The cafe thus far served their full menu only till three a.m. but has now extended it to six a.m. to welcome football fans. “We’re focussing on promoting the Indian food and tandoor options during the season,” adds Roni. Chillax’s Pallimukku outlet is all prepared for the season with a large LCD projection screen in place.
Match viewing parties are the flavour these days and youngsters congregate at friends’ homes or at local clubs to share the thrill of nail-biting finishes and celebrate wins together. All-night cafe Kahawa enjoyed a good share of this crowd during the Premier League match days and Midhun Mathew, partner at Kahawa, is certain that they’ll be back for more this World Cup. “We mostly see young employees in their early 20s during the week and families come on the weekends after late night shows,” he says, before adding, “Since the season coincides with the monsoon, we’re going to watch the first few weeks to see good how the turnout is before we roll out more plans.”
At Holiday Inn’s sports bar, Stadia, the decor has undergone a football makeover with jerseys, flags and footballs added to the interiors. Four televisions will screen the matches live between eight and 11 p.m. “Hardly anyone wants to watch matches alone these days, so we’ve had clients coming with their friends and family dressed in team colours for previous matches,” says Soma Mathew, assistant director of sales. As it stands, the hotel’s 24-hour coffee shop Delicacy doesn’t have screening facilities but if the response in the early weeks of the season is good, the cafe may include televisions for the post mid-night matches, adds Soma.
