In the first four weeks of the tournament, beer sales in bars, restaurants, stadiums and other venues rose 14 percent in U.S. host cities compared to the same period last year, according to the Beer Institute. The bump extended beyond host cities, with sales up 4 percent nationally. Bars in Boston reported needing emergency deliveries to keep taps from running dry on some game days. Fans downed a total of 290,000 stadium beers during the six matches in Philadelphia, FIFA organizers said.
Jim Koch, the brewer, founder and CEO of the Boston Beer Co., which makes Samuel Adams and other brands, said the company had to make two emergency deliveries to its Sam Adams Boston Taproom on the first day that Scotland's fans were in town. At one point, the bar was pouring a Sam Adams Boston Lager every 12 seconds. Koch said he did not see a single person on their phone, noting they had a beer in their hand and were talking to each other. Beer consumption has fallen steadily for a decade in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association, a trade group for craft brewers. Many consumers are cutting back on alcohol for health reasons. Last year was the first time in Gallup's polling that a majority of Americans, 53 percent, said drinking one or two drinks a day was bad for one's health.