Which Alcohol Gets The Biggest Boost On Football Sundays?

Food and drinks are always an important part of football Sundays. Now, right on the heels of Dry January, Super Bowl LVIII is about to bring folks a day of eating, drinking, and merriment. It's safe to assume that plenty of beer is drunk during the Super Bowl, but is it the most popular football-watching beverage? As it turns out, the answer might not be what you expected.

To get to the bottom of the matter, Toast analyzed data from both full-service and quick-service restaurants in each of the 30 cities that have their own football team. Based on the information collected through Weeks 1 to 13 of the 2023 season, aka from September 10 through December 12, the minds behind the platform determined the most popular beverage within that criteria. And this beverage didn't just beat the competition — it crushed it.

Hard seltzer was the most popular drink to sip on during a game; the beverage saw a whopping 47% increase in consumption on football Sundays compared to Sundays during the rest of the year. The next most popular alcoholic beverage did see quite a spike in consumption, but nowhere near that of hard seltzer; this was red wine, which had a 23% increase in consumption on game days.

While many people closely associate beer with watching a football game, the drink surprisingly lagged when compared to other alcoholic beverages. Lager, in particular, came in third with a 23% increase, according to Toast's data. Whiskey earned fourth place with 20%, followed closely by liqueur with 17% and other beers with 14%.

It's possible that beer is such a popular beverage on the average Sunday that it simply didn't see a remarkable increase during football season. After all, hard seltzer is a perfectly light and refreshing drink to sip on during the afternoon while watching the game. While the popularity of hard seltzer on football Sundays may have been unexpected, the most popular brand is likely also a surprise. According to a YouGov poll, the most popular hard seltzer in the U.S. at the end of 2023 was Mike's Hard Lemonade Seltzer Pineapple. It was followed by White Claw Hard Seltzer, Truly Hard Seltzer, and Smirnoff Spiked Sparkling Seltzer, in that order. So, as you prepare for your Super Bowl party this year, you might want to stock up on some extra hard seltzer — after all, it's what the football fans want.