Major sporting events can be a welcome sales opportunity for retailers, but they also create conditions that increase the risk of shoplifting, organised retail crime and violence against shop workers.
From international football tournaments to major rugby, cricket and basketball fixtures, retailers often experience a surge in customer numbers as consumers buy food, alcohol, snacks and merchandise before matches.
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Security specialists say these periods can also create more opportunities for theft, with busy stores, distracted staff and increased alcohol consumption making it easier for offenders to operate.
The warning comes as retail crime reaches record levels in several markets. In the UK, the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show retailers experienced more than 20 million customer theft incidents in 2023/24, equivalent to around 55,000 every day.
Customer theft cost the sector £2.2bn, while retailers invested a record £1.8bn in crime prevention. Violence and abuse against retail workers also exceeded 2,000 incidents a day, with around 70 incidents involving a weapon daily.
While there is little evidence that sporting events directly cause shoplifting, retail security experts widely regard them as high-risk trading periods because they combine heavy footfall, high demand and stretched operational resources.
Why crime risk increases
Large sporting events attract more shoppers into supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping centres within a short period. That increase in footfall makes it easier for opportunistic thieves to blend into crowds while employees focus on serving customers and replenishing shelves.
Alcohol sales can add another layer of risk. Security professionals have long linked heavy drinking before and after major matches with higher levels of aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse and assaults on retail staff.
Organised retail crime groups may also exploit these busy periods. The BRC says many retailers report the same criminal gangs systematically targeting multiple stores, often stealing high-value goods before moving quickly to another location. “Theft and violence have become increasingly interlinked,” the organisation said, noting that confronting offenders has become “a major trigger of violence and abuse”.
Self-service checkouts can present further challenges when stores are exceptionally busy. Retailers have reported increased attempts to bypass scanning systems or exploit reduced supervision during peak trading periods.
Retailers step up security
Many retailers now plan major sporting events in the same way they prepare for Christmas, Black Friday or other peak trading periods.
Common measures include deploying additional security personnel, increasing the number of employees on shop floors, improving CCTV monitoring and repositioning high-value products in areas that are easier to supervise.
Many businesses are also investing in artificial intelligence to support loss prevention. AI-enabled CCTV systems can identify suspicious behaviour in real time, while advanced self-checkout technology can detect missed scans or unusual purchasing patterns.
Privacy-preserving computer vision systems are also becoming more common as retailers look for ways to improve security without relying solely on manual monitoring.
Retailers are also placing greater emphasis on staff training. Employees are increasingly taught how to recognise suspicious behaviour, de-escalate confrontations and prioritise personal safety rather than attempting to recover stolen goods.
Prevention requires planning
Security planning increasingly begins well before a tournament starts.
Retailers use historical sales data, local event calendars and previous incident reports to identify stores that may face higher risks during major sporting fixtures. Those insights help determine staffing levels, security deployments and stock placement.
Many businesses also work more closely with police, neighbouring retailers and local business partnerships to share intelligence on repeat offenders and organised crime groups.
The broader retail crime picture underlines why these preparations are becoming more important.
Police recorded 529,994 shoplifting offences in England and Wales in the year to June 2025, the highest total since current recording practices began and a 13% increase on the previous year.
For retailers, the challenge is to balance strong security with a positive shopping experience. Major sporting events remain valuable trading opportunities, but they also require careful operational planning.
As customer numbers grow and stores become busier, investing in people, technology and intelligence-led security can help reduce losses while protecting employees and shoppers alike.
