The World Cup has been good for many things in its North American host cities: hotels, restaurants, tourism, civic pride. It has also been very good for beer.
As the tournament reaches its climax, with Argentina and Spain due to contest the final on Sunday, brewers, bars and stadium vendors across the United States report a notable jump in beer sales, fuelled by crowds of visiting supporters and by locals swept up in the occasion. For an industry that has spent years watching consumption slowly decline, it has been a welcome, if probably temporary, lift.
An atmosphere made for a pint
Part of the boost is simply the influx of fans from football-mad countries, many with a deep-rooted culture of gathering to drink and watch matches together. But much of it is about atmosphere. Big tournaments create a kind of collective permission to down tools in the middle of the day, pack into a bar and share the drama with strangers. Watch parties have proliferated, stadiums have done a brisk trade, and the festival mood has translated, reliably, into fuller tills at the bar.
Brewers, unsurprisingly, have leaned in. Major beer companies have poured marketing money into the tournament and organised viewing events, eager to associate their brands with football's biggest party and to make the most of a moment that comes around only every four years.
The price of a beer
Not everyone has been delighted. The cost of a beer at the stadiums has raised eyebrows, particularly among international visitors unused to American venue pricing, where a single drink can cost many times what it would at home. Complaints about steep concession prices have been a running theme of the tournament, a reminder that the same demand fuelling the boom also lets sellers charge a premium.
There is also a notable contrast with the previous World Cup in Qatar, where alcohol was largely restricted at venues. This tournament, staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico, has offered a far more permissive environment, and brewers have reaped the benefit.
A fleeting golden hour?
The larger question for the industry is whether any of this lasts. Beer consumption in the United States and much of the West has been drifting downward for years, as younger drinkers turn to wine, spirits, low- and no-alcohol options, or simply drink less as part of a broader turn toward wellness. A single month of World Cup fever, however lucrative, does not reverse that trend.
For now, though, the mood in host-city bars is buoyant, and the industry is happy to enjoy it. Whether the tournament converts casual summer drinkers into lasting customers, or whether sales settle back once the visitors go home and the watch parties end, is a worry for another day.
On Sunday, as hundreds of millions around the world watch Argentina and Spain, a good many of the Americans among them will be doing so with a beer in hand. For the brewers, that is the whole point, and, for one unusual summer, business has rarely been better.
