Thirsty Insights

The World Cup's Expected Impact on Beer

Will the 2026 World Cup Actually Sell More Beer? (Spoiler: It's Complicated)

People seem to think the World Cup is going to send beer sales through the roof. Not so fast my friend. We decided to actually check what has happened historically. Here's what we did: We dug into two recent World Cups of note:

• 1994 (the last time the U.S. hosted)
• 2014 (Brazil, gave us the best sales data to work with in a time zone similar region)

The "Please Manage Your Expectations" Part:

When we looked at grocery store and retail scan data from 2014, we found... basically nothing.

Bud Light? Modelo? Heineken? None showed any “bump” of note vs trends before or after the World Cup. Check it out for yourself

But wait, there's a Plot Twist:

Bars and restaurants in 1994 host cities saw consumption explode by up to 300% during group stage match months.

The problem? Most of that action happens in places we can't easily track, your local sports bar, and those independent convenience stores that sell a ton of imported beer.

A few things have changed since 1994:

• The U.S. Hispanic population has doubled (10% -> 20%)
• The U.S. is hosting 78 matches instead of 56 (even with sharing with

Our data tracking is way better now, we have much better coverage of convenience stores and independent retailers

Our Prediction:

Import brands will outperform domestic. Scan data will show more lift versus both 1994 and 2014, but a significant portion of the benefit will remain "hidden" until the major public companies report earnings. We're not expecting a sales explosion, but the World Cup should provide a much-needed tailwind this summer.