Fans from 48 countries have traveled to host cities across North America to support their teams in the FIFA World Cup. Across cities, countries and cultures, they share one thing in common— beer.
Andrew Heritage is chief economist of the Beer Institute, a national trade organization of the beer industry. He's analyzed the data from the first two weeks of the tournament. He says that host cities have seen massive increases in beer sales both inside the stadiums and out.
"We know beer and sports typically go together, and it's no surprise that we're seeing just a massive pull-through from the consumer," he said.
That's especially true in Boston, where the Tartan Army, the Scottish fan contingent, famously drank bars dry when Scotland played its first two group stage matches in the city.
"Massachusetts had a 27.5% increase in on-premise consumption. That was the largest of any market." he said.
The games have been a massive boon to the industry.
"It's almost like several Super Bowls happening all at once. To see that impact in the beer industry, it really doesn't have a comparison to be honest," Heritage said.
WLRN’s Carlton Gillespie spoke with Heritage about how beer has become the real winner of the World Cup so far. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.
WLRN: What are the beer trends of this World Cup? How has beer consumption shifted since the first ball was kicked?
So far we've seen a massive impact in host markets for the first two weeks of the tournament. What we've seen is a massive impact in sales, 15.4% increase in what we call the on-premise, that's bars and restaurants, but also the concession channel of people taking in the games. Specifically in that concession channel we've seen an increase in beer sales of 22%. So fans enjoying the game are gathering and drinking beer. We also see an increase, interestingly, in non-host markets of just over a percent in the on-premise consumption, so people attending watch parties and gathering.
Beer is central to those occasions, and it's no surprise. The World Cup is a sporting event like no other, on a stage that's massive — beyond comparison really. And we know beer and sports typically go together, and it's no surprise that we're seeing just a massive pull-through from the consumer. Both from Americans watching Team USA, as well as visitors to the US taking in American culture and and watching their teams here.
I imagine you've also seen a massive spike in sales wherever the Scottish fans have gone. As someone who has some personal experience with their trip down here to South Florida, I wonder are there any teams that are popping out as hotspots for you in your analysis?
It's difficult to tease out team-by-team effects, but what I can tell you is we saw when Scotland had their two matches in Massachusetts — two of the three matches in the first two weeks of the tournament — Massachusetts had a 27 and a half percent increase in on-premise consumption. That was the largest of any market. And we saw a massive spike of just over 7% in the off-premise, so away from home consumption also increased. That could be them maybe at their hotel or wherever they're staying and purchasing some beer. I think this excitement is sort of contagious. And so we see people hosting watch parties and everyone just gathering.
That entire market in Massachusetts had a 12% increase. We don't have data yet on what happened in Florida — we'll get that soon — but what I can tell you is when it's all said and done in our data, typically one match seems to be increasing on-premise sales by about 4% to 5%. So I would say we'll see at least a 15% lift in Florida sales that week, but with the Tartan Army being part of one of those matches we may see as much as 20% or 25%. It wouldn't be out of the range to see something exactly as what we saw in Massachusetts.
Is there a sense of scale for how this compares to a Super Bowl? Which I imagine is also an event where more beer is consumed than on any other Sunday.
So the Super Bowl we typically see around a 25% increase in that week in February, but weeks in February are typically low volume beer selling weeks over the winter months. Beer and warm weather go together, so we're seeing this spike not only in a time where it would already be a high volume week, but just adding on top of that. So you're taking warm weather, some exciting holidays with the Fourth of July coming up and America 250 celebrations, and this World Cup is just adding fuel to that. It's almost like several Super Bowls happening all at once. To see that impact in the beer industry, it really doesn't have a comparison to be honest.
