Your complete guide to a sensational summer of sport
Sunshine. Wimbledon on the TV. The roar of the crowd at Wembley in the FA Cup final. Afternoons spent watching the golf and cheering on England in the Women’s Euros. Oh and let’s not forget the England vs India test series – because summer sport isn’t just about strawberries and cream, it’s about sixes, screamers and last minute winners too. You can’t beat it.
But what’s on and where will you be watching? Our guide to a sensational summer of sport will take you through all the top sporting events to catch this summer – as well as how to enjoy them. Here at Greene King pubs, we’re perfectly set up for a fantastic summer packed with sports, beers and good times.
So take a look at our highlights below and find a sports pub near you to catch the match, game or race. It’s gearing up to be a summer to remember.
The footy
There’s only one place to start – football. We’re set to see some huge matches take place in 2025 for the rest of the football season.
Can Arne Slot guide Liverpool to their second Premier League title? It appears so. Look out for the final week of Premier League games played on 25th May, with the big question of whether Manchester United will be sucked into a relegation dogfight at the end of the season. It surely can’t happen can it? Football, what a funny old game.
In terms of the FA Cup, the big date for your dairy is 17th May. Last season we saw the second Manchester derby in a row at Wembley, with United taking the cup after City won the season before. Who will walk the famous Wembley steps in victory this year?
Plus, we have the Champions League final just two weeks later. On 31st May, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Harry Kane and his Bayern Munich team will attempt to win the cup on home soil. The question is, will another English team foil them on home ground like Chelsea did?
And into the post-season, we have an expanded Club World Cup, for the first time ever. Running from June 14th to July 13th, with both City and Chelsea joining the likes of Real Madrid and Inter Miami, it promises to be a true spectacle of club football. The Nations League finals will also be squeezed in just before from 4th to 8th June.
But the real highlight? The Lionesses are back in action, defending their crown at the UEFA Women’s Euros 2025. With the tournament kicking off in July, all eyes will be on England as they look to bring it home once again.
Then the action takes the smallest of breaks before we’re back with the Premier League kicking off again in August. No rest for the football obsessed!
The rugby
We’re well into the Six Nations right now, and we’re all super excited for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia in July. For club rugby action, there’s the final of the Champions Cup at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 24th May to look forward to as well.
But the main event comes later. From 22nd August to 27th September, England will play host to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. For those who can’t get a ticket, we’ll be showing all the rugby matches live in our Greene King pubs and sports bars. With big screens, great beers and top food, it’s just as good as being at the match itself.
The cricket
When it comes to bat on ball, we can’t get enough of watching cricket in our Greene King sports pubs.
And whilst 2025 is an Ashes year (hurrah!), you’re going to have to wait for winter. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of cricket to keep us entertained in the meantime. There's England’s tour of Zimbabwe in May, followed by the One Day International Series between England and South Africa in September, all alongside the County Championship running from April to September.
England’s test series against India runs from June to August, promising high-stakes battles and plenty of drama.
Women’s cricket is also serving up a thrilling year, with England’s stars competing in the Women’s Ashes later in 2025, plus the Women’s Cricket World Cup held in India in October (yes, we know it’s not the summer but the Indian heat will keep us all warm).
And of course there’s the IPL from March to May and the Hundred smashing its way onto our screens in July – big sixes, fast balls and non-stop action across both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Cricket season? It’s basically all year round, and we’re absolutely here for it.
The tennis
June to July is when tennis fever hits the UK. We all watch as the players don their whites and take to the pristine courts of Wimbledon. Whether you’re a tennis enthusiast or a fairweather fan, it’s our British right to consider ourselves experts of the court when Wimbledon rolls around.
This year, the action from Centre Court and the rest of SW19 will run from 30th June to 13th July. Expect expert analysis and post-match insights on the BBC’s excellent coverage. The only way to improve on it? A cold pint in one of our Greene King sports pubs. Or maybe even a Pimm’s to truly get into the summer spirit?
We’ve already seen the Australian Open in January, with the other major grand slams coming up soon. Wimbledon is the third in the calendar, with the French Open running from 19th May to 8th June. The last grand slam of the year is the US Open, running from 25th August to 7th September.
The golf
Fore! The golf action is swinging thick and fast in 2025, with plenty of major tournaments to watch out for this summer.
- The PGA Championship: 11th – 18th May
- The US Open: 7th – 15th June
- The Open: 13th – 20th July
And if you like your golf with a big dose of the rivalry between Europe and the USA, you’re in luck as the Ryder Cup will be back on our screens in 2025. Held at the Bethpage Black Course in New York, the European team will be heading over to America hoping to hold onto the trophy they won two years ago in 2023. If you can’t get a ticket or the time off work to travel over to the States, it’s all on Sky Sports and will be shown in our Greene King sports pubs from 23rd to 28th September.
Motorsport
What a season 2025 is shaping up to be. The big news? Lewis Hamilton has made his long-awaited debut in Ferrari red, kicking off a new era in Formula 1. With the new season well under way and the battle for the championship heating up, all eyes will be on the summer races to see if Hamilton’s move was a masterstroke. Buckle up – this one’s going to be thrilling.
But for a big summer of sport, the event for British motor racing fans is of course the British Grand Prix, which is held at Silverstone from 4th to 6th July. Lewis will no doubt have this as an important date in his diary, as have we.
The MotoGP season begins on 2nd March with the Thailand Grand Prix and finishes the 22-race season on 16th November in Valencia. The British Grand Prix is on 25th May at Silverstone.
Other notable races include The Monaco Grand Prix from 23rd to 25th May and the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi from 5th to 7th December.
The horse racing
There’s just something about watching the races in one of our Greene King sports pubs. The sprints, the jumps, the thrills and spills. And the excitement when you see one of your bets finally come in. We love it.
So, there’s only really one place to start when it comes to the top horse races in the sporting calendar. Of course, it’s the Grand National. The day when we all have a flutter, when we’re part of sweepstakes and we all come together to watch one of the most iconic horse races in the world.
Summer horse racing dates for your diary include the Epsom Derby from 6th to 7th June and Royal Ascot from 17th to 21st June.
The best of the rest
There’s still so much sport to enjoy during the summer in 2025. For feats of superhuman strength in the mountains and epic bursts of speed in the sprints, don’t miss the 2025 Tour de France – held from 5th to 27th July.
Other top sports events in 2025 include the World Snooker Championship starting in April and May, and the NBA Finals in June.
Date(s) | Sport | Event | Location |
Apr-12 | Horse Racing | Grand National | Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool |
Apr-19 - May 5 | Snooker | World Snooker Championship | Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England |
May-03 | Horse Racing | Kentucky Derby | Louisville, Kentucky, US |
May 15–18 | Golf | US PGA | Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina |
May-17 | Football | FA Cup final | Wembley Stadium, London |
May | Boxing | IBA World Championships (men) | Astana, Kazakhstan |
May 19 - Jun 8 | Tennis | French Open | Paris, France |
May 23-25 | Motorsport | Monaco Grand Prix | Monte Carlo, Monaco |
May-31 | Football | UEFA Champions League Final | Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany |
Jun 4-8 | Football | UEFA Nations League | |
Jun 11-15 | Motorsport | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France |
Jun 12-15 | Golf | US Open | Oakmont Country Club Oakmont, Pennsylvania |
Jun 15 - Jul 13 | Football | FIFA Club World Cup | USA |
Jun | Basketball | NBA Finals | USA/Canada |
Jul 5-27 | Cycling | Tour de France | mostly France |
Jul 17–20 | Golf | The Open Championship | Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portrush, Antrim, Northern Ireland. |
Jul 26 - Aug 2 | Cycling | Tour de France Femmes | France |
Aug 22 - Sep 27 | Rugby | Rugby World Cup (women) | England |
Aug 25 - Sep 6 | Tennis | US Open | New York, USA |
Sept 23-28 | Golf | Ryder Cup | Bethpage State Park, Black Course, Farmingdale, New York |
Watch the best of the action with Greene King
Whether you want to watch the FA Cup final, the British Grand Prix or the Rugby World Cup, you can do it all at one of our Greene King sports pubs. If sport is on the TV, you can guarantee we’re showing it. We’ve got big screens, all the channels, great beers, top quality pub food, and an atmosphere that will get you off your seat whatever’s going on in the sporting contest.
Find a Greene King sports pub near you and get ready for an action-packed summer of sport.