Sporting Wine Club

What Sporting Wine Club does

Sporting Wine Club Limited is a privately held UK direct-to-consumer wine and spirits retailer and subscription club, founded in 2017 by ex-England rugby international Simon Halliday and Chris Mariner and registered in England and Wales (company number 09642498). The company curates a portfolio of estate-bottled wines and spirits each tied to a sporting story or named sporting figure — including co-branded ranges with Sir Ian Botham, Ricky Ponting, Mike Tindall, James Haskell, Alex Payne, Louis Oosthuizen, Schalk Burger and Yotes Court — and sells them through its own WordPress/WooCommerce storefront at sportingwineclub.com with SSL-encrypted checkout and over-18 age verification.

The business operates a multi-channel model: one-time online sales of bottles, mixed cases, build-your-own cases, gift sets, spirits and gift cards (£50/£75/£100); a £50/month Monthly Wine Discovery subscription whose credit is non-refundable and redeemable only against future SWC purchases; a paid club membership delivering minimum 20% off wines and spirits, 20–25% off at selected partner UK restaurants (including 28-50), and exclusive invitations to sporting winemaker and ambassador events; direct corporate enquiries from sports clubs, societies and event organisers; and on-trade listings at selected partner restaurants. Distribution is UK-only (excluding the Channel Islands) and supported by a content-led marketing mix anchored on Halliday's Sporting Blog, an owned email newsletter, organic social presence across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, and PR around charity partnerships such as Doddie5 (MND fundraising via My Name'5 Doddie Foundation). The company states it has raised over £500,000 for charities in the past three years through winemaker and customer generosity. Its only disclosed external capital is a ~$269K Crowdcube raise in October 2022.

Name

Sporting Wine Club

Legal name

Sporting Wine Club Limited

Website

https://sportingwineclub.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sporting Wine Club is a UK direct-to-consumer wine and spirits retailer and subscription club, founded in 2017, that curates estate-bottled wines and spirits tied to named sporting figures for sports-loving UK consumers, gift buyers and corporate sporting-event clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wine Retail and Subscription Club

NAICS

Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (445320), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRANABAB

Wine Retail (Bottle Shops & Wine Merchants)

Consumer Products & Retail/Tobacco, Alcohol & Cannabis Retail/Beer, Wine & Spirits Specialty Retail

SECONDARYCRANAAAI

Alcohol Subscription Clubs & Membership Retail

Consumer Products & Retail/Tobacco, Alcohol & Cannabis Retail/Alcohol Retail (Liquor Stores & Off-Premise)

Keywords

• Wine subscription club
• Estate-bottled wines
• Sporting themed spirits
• Online wine retail
• Wine gifting

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. One-time wine and spirits sales: Direct e-commerce sales of individual bottles, mixed cases, build-your-own cases, gift sets and spirits at listed prices (e.g., £25–£250 range on gifting page); gift cards (£50, £75, £100) also drive prepaid one-time revenue. Prices include VAT and are quoted per bottle (or per case of 6) excluding delivery.
2. Monthly Wine Discovery subscription: Recurring monthly subscription (£50/month) delivering a curated Monthly Box (e.g., May 2026 Monthly Box); 100% of the monthly wine credit is non-refundable and must be used on future purchases from Sporting Wine Club, creating a recurring contracted revenue stream.
3. Club membership fees: Paid club membership that delivers minimum 20% off all wines and spirits, 20–25% off at selected partner restaurants across the UK, and exclusive invitations to winemaker and ambassador events — forming an ongoing loyalty and discount-driven revenue stream.
4. Charity-linked product sales and fundraising: Sales of charity-tagged wines and spirits (e.g., Doddie Bordeaux Blend / Doddie5) that raise funds for sporting and non-sporting causes; the company states it has raised over £500,000 in the past three years alone via winemaker and customer generosity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sporting Wine Club is a UK direct-to-consumer retailer that curates and sells estate-bottled wines and spirits, each tied to a sporting story, winemaker or rugby legend, via its own e-commerce storefront. It supplements one-off bottle, case and gift sales with a Monthly Wine Discovery subscription box and a paid club membership that unlocks minimum 20% off all wines and spirits, partner restaurant discounts and exclusive member events. The portfolio spans red, white, rosé and sparkling wines, mixed cases, build-your-own cases, spirits (including co-branded gin) and a charity wines range, supported by editorial content from co-founder Simon Halliday.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Monthly Wine Discovery Package: Monthly subscription package delivering hand-picked wines to members.

Products and services

• Sporting Wine Club Membership
• Monthly Wine Discovery Package
• Gift Cards
• Black Eye Gin
• Ponting Wines Collection
• Doddie Bordeaux Blend (Doddie5 Red Blend)
• Mixed Cases (including The Touchdown Case and Oakdene Road Mixed Case)
• Build Your Own Case

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship brand partnership, major on-trade partner, flagship winemaker partnership, major winemaker partnership, major co-branded product partnership, major charity / co-development partnership and secondary winemaker partnership.

• Bath Rugbyflagship brand partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured under the 'Our partners — WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE' section on the homepage with the Bath Rugby logo. Co-founder Simon Halliday has deep historical ties to Bath Rugby (former player, former EPCR Chair) and the club's commentary regularly references Bath, reinforcing Bath Rugby as a flagship sporting partner for the brand.
• 28-50 (partner restaurant)major on-trade partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLogo featured alongside the Sporting Wine Club logo in the 'Where can I drink sporting wines?' section of the homepage. 28-50 serves as a representative example of the selected UK partner restaurants where members receive 20–25% off their bill as a club benefit.
• Sir Ian Botham (Lord Botham) — Botham wine and gin rangeflagship winemaker partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-branded Botham wine and spirit products are sold across the site, including 'Lord Botham Fathers Day Gift' (£95), 'Botham & Balfour Legend Series – Sir Geoff Hurst Cuvée 66' (£30/£180 case), 'Botham Ashes Six of the best' (£225), 'Botham Family Wines 2 Bottle Box', and 'Sir Ian Botham 22 Yards Gin Christmas Baubles' / 'Botham 22 Yards Gin'.
• Ricky Ponting (Ponting wines)major winemaker partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPonting wines are featured as a dedicated product category on the site ('Ponting wines are here'), co-branded with the former Australian cricket captain.
• Mike Tindall, James Haskell and Alex Payne (Black Eye Gin)major co-branded product partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlack Eye Gin is sold on the site as a co-branded spirit with former England rugby player Mike Tindall, former England rugby international James Haskell and presenter Alex Payne, prominently featured under 'Latest products'.
• Schalk Burger — Doddie5 Red Blend (with My Name'5 Doddie Foundation)major charity / co-development partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpringbok legend Schalk Burger co-created the Doddie5 Red Blend wine with Simon Halliday (alongside Kenny Logan, Doddie Weir and Jill Douglas) in 2019 to raise awareness of MND. The wine continues to be produced while there is demand, with proceeds supporting the foundation.
• Yotes Court Winery (Susannah and Rich Ricci)secondary winemaker partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerYotes Court Winery is described in the Halliday blog as 'the only sporting vineyard in England', whose owners Susannah and Rich Ricci are connected to Cheltenham festival racehorses. Their wines, including the 'Rosé of Champions', are sold via the club.
• Louis Oosthuizen (Cabernet Sauvignon)secondary winemaker partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-branded 'Louis Oosthuizen Cab Sauvignon' (£65) sold via the gifting page, leveraging the South African golfer's sporting profile.
• Bledsoe Family Winerysecondary winemaker partnershipStrategic or Co-development Partner'Bledsoe & McDaniels Pinot Noir Single 2023' (£42) and 'Gift: Bledsoe Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Single Bottle' (£40) are sold on the site, a US sporting-themed winery partnership.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Sunday Times Wine Club: Major UK wine subscription club operating a similar DTC + club membership + editorial-content model. Comparable in GTM mechanics (subscription, curated cases, member pricing, gifting) but lacks the sports-celebrity niche and instead leverages media-brand authority.
• Honest Grapes: Independent UK online wine merchant offering curated wines, mixed cases and corporate gifting. Comparable on DTC premium-wine curation and B2B/corporate gifting, but without the sports-celebrity co-branding model.
• Naked Wines: Online wine subscription platform connecting UK (and global) consumers with independent winemakers via recurring 'Angels' subscription. Closely comparable subscription and winemaker-relationship model, but at venture-scale with much broader geographic reach.
• The Wine Society: Long-established UK member-owned wine cooperative operating a subscription-style purchasing model with member pricing. Directly comparable membership/subscription mechanic, though at much greater scale and without a sports focus.
• Laithwaites Wine: One of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer wine clubs with a multi-decade subscription model and gift/corporate channels. Most directly comparable to Sporting Wine Club on DTC wine club mechanics, recurring subscription and gifting, but at materially greater scale and a generalist (non-sporting) positioning.

Emerging players

• Slurp: Smaller UK wine subscription and gifting startup. Comparable on subscription mechanics and gifting, but with a more generalist positioning and without celebrity co-branded SKUs.

Regional players

• Borough Wines: Independent London-based wine retailer with shops, online sales and subscription options. Comparable as a UK DTC wine retailer with a curated, story-led approach, though lacking the sports-celebrity partnership angle.

Broad incumbents

• Berry Bros. & Rudd: Historic UK fine wine merchant with DTC, gifting, cellar and corporate channels. Comparable on premium UK wine DTC and corporate gifting but with a luxury heritage positioning rather than a sports-niche community model.
• Corney & Barrow: UK wine merchant with on-trade, private client and corporate gifting offerings. Comparable in B2B and on-trade distribution to Sporting Wine Club's sports club and partner restaurant channels, but at a luxury rather than sports-niche positioning.
• Majestic Wine: Largest UK high-street wine retailer with national store network, online DTC, B2B and subscription services. Overlaps on UK wine retail and corporate gifting but operates at vastly greater scale and with a generalist positioning, not a sports-niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sporting-wine-club

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sporting Wine Club