Sports and Beer – The Inevitable Connection

The experience of watching a sports event is always better when you are having an adult beverage in the process. At least this is what most sports admirers around the globe will say. Sportsbetting tipping website BettingTips4You have done many polls on this subject in their social media channel over the course of history. Interestingly, the latter surveys have usually shown the bigger connection between the two.

Unsurprisingly, most of the surveys on the theme were done in the United States, but the results are very similar to those in the European countries. The only difference is regarded to sports as football is much more popular in the United States, while soccer (their name for the European football) gets the prime across the ocean. 

Not all sports provoke an identical need for adult beverages which is again reasonable. You can hardly compare the audience at football matches to the one at snooker or golf events. We will refer anyone who drinks at least once a month as a regular drinker. As many as 84% of them associate at least one alcoholic beverage to football. The next sport in line is baseball with 74%. Then goes hockey at 62% and is followed by car racing and horse racing (62% apiece). Basketball and boxing stand at 60% and 56% respectively. Only 42% of asked Americans answered positively to the question if they drink at least one alcoholic beverage while watching tennis. 

These numbers are pretty much identical in European countries with the difference of soccer being instead of football at the very top of the list. 

Beer is the King 

Americans older than 21 were also asked what kind of alcohol they drink while watching a particular sport. The results were by no means surprising as beer dominated the charts for eight of eleven sports in the survey. People first thought of beer in 75% for football, 70% for baseball, 55% for car racing and 51% for ice hockey. Beer was a clear winner for sports like basketball, boxing, soccer and beach volleyball. Among the other adult beverages associated with sports, spirits and wine are the only two worth mentioning. Golf admirers stated they prefer spirits while watching their favourite sport, while wine is the dominant force for tennis fans as almost 20% of them connected Roger Federer’s sport to wine.

Sports and beverages are two huge industries in modern times. Looking at the results of such polls, it is not hard to conclude they come across each other much more often than we’d usually think. Given such an environment, it is no wonder the companies that make beverages compete with each other to gain sports fans’ trust.

Is there a difference between watching an event live and on television? 

Obviously, the overall experience of watching a certain game live on court/stadium can’t be compared to the one when you are sitting in front of a TV. However, is there a distinction between the two when it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages? Stay tuned as the answers to this particular question might be super interesting.

Regular drinkers (those who drink at least a month) made no difference (or made just a tiny) between drinking an adult beverage while watching sports live or on television. The survey revealed literally no difference at all for football and ice hockey. There is a slim difference (two to four percent) for basketball, soccer and baseball as people are slightly more likely to drink the beverage when they are attending the event live. Fans usually drink alcohol 5% more when they are watching car or horse racing live rather than on television. The biggest difference in this matter is applied to tennis. Players who are watching a tennis match live on stadiums are almost 10% more likely to drink alcoholic beverages than those who are at home in front of their TVs.

Who did the surveys?

In the end, we asked ourselves who were the people who have answered the surveys? What sports are they generally most interested in? Once again, we were by no means surprised by the responses. Most regular drinkers that agreed to do such polls were avid football fans, 63% of them. Just imagine how happy the companies who make alcoholic beverages (beer specifically) when they see a crowded stadium in the clash between Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots for example. To be straight, every single stadium is completely full even during the regular season, not to mention the playoffs. The mere look at the aforementioned numbers and percentages reveal a massive connection between football (in particular, other sports as well) and alcoholic beverages.

There were roughly 40% of those who described themselves as genuine basketball and baseball fans. This is still a huge percentage knowing about the numbers mentioned above in the article.  

There is also a distinction between age groups as younger drinkers (21-35 years) will prefer sports such as boxing, soccer, football and hockey much more than the elder groups. Drinkers older than 65 years are much more likely to be fans of golf or tennis. Speaking of gender, we do not even have to mention that males are significantly bigger fans of every single sport than women, regardless of which age group we are talking about. 

Once again, we presented the results from surveys done on American soil, but the results are very similar in all parts of the globe. Beer and sports have an inevitable connection around the planet. Sports and sports betting are usually a great combination. If you are after some latest promotions and updates check bettingtips4you.com regularly.