With the World Cup in full swing, KC’s matches are a gold mine for stadium food and drink vendors—especially breweries.
For soccer fans, beer is the dominant alcoholic drink of choice. Analysts with Action Network estimate that 1.8 billion gallons of beer will be consumed globally during the World Cup matches, which includes 16.7 million beers sold in stadiums alone. According to sports journalism company AS, during the 2022 World Cup, 63% of fans at venues outside of the various stadiums reportedly planned on drinking beer when watching the matches, more than wine and spirits combined 11%.
Although Action Network predicts the highest beer consumption will likely happen at the New York-New Jersey final match at MetLife on July 19, other data shows that KC is one of the more hops-happy crowds. Throughout the six local matches, beer sales are projected to be nearly $7 million, or a total of 746,238 16-ounce brews from the organization’s official beer sponsor Anheuser Busch. That’s about 93,000 gallons of beer, y’all.
Some worry about the effect of beer on the sport itself. England and Scotland are reviewing their drinking rules at soccer matches amidst an “alcoholism plus hooliganism” narrative that has led to fights and injuries at matches, according to a 2022 study in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Could that type of beer-driven hooliganism happen in our renamed stadium full of friendly Midwesterns mixing it up with international fans during a World Cup match? Well, anybody who has witnessed a testy confrontation at a Chiefs tailgate could weigh in with their Show-Me opinion on that question.
