Super Bowl 2024 Trend Report Proves Hard Seltzer's Popularity Isn't Slowing Down

Super Bowl LVIII is just around the corner, and along with it comes the annual anticipation of epic food and beverage spreads. From building snack stadiums to planning drinking games, fans of football (and food) are already gearing up for the NFL's final matchup of the season. Whether you plan on sinking into the couch or cheering wildly from a barstool, you'll need a cold drink to wash down those salty Super Bowl snacks. Beer might be the traditional football pairing, but another beverage is scheduled to make a major appearance on game day: hard seltzer.

According to a report by Toast, hard seltzer is actually the "most popular game day alcohol." This might be surprising for a sport renowned for its beer commercials, but the numbers don't lie: Toast reported a 47% boost in hard seltzer sales during game days. NFL fans, it seems, can't get enough. Once thought to be a bit of a fad, seltzer only continues to grow in popularity and, from the sound of it, will likely be found in coolers across the country on Super Bowl Sunday.

In its report, Toast looked at food and drink sales throughout the football season. To assess the sport's impact on restaurants, they specifically dug into how the sales volume changed on a Sunday compared to the sales volume on other days. This analysis was only conducted in cities that have an NFL team. The sales increase of hard seltzer — 47% — topped the charts for alcohol. Lagers received less than half the bump (23%), and all other beer sales saw an increase of 14%. Many of the usual suspects fell in line behind hard seltzer, with wine (23%), whiskey (20%), and liqueurs (17%) rounding out the top of the list alongside beer and seltzer.

Seltzer's continued popularity is part of a trend that market analysts believe will grow stronger. According to Grand View Research (GVR), the hard seltzer market was worth nearly $19 billion in 2023. This is still small compared to the beer market, which GVR most recently valued at almost $700 billion. However, the firm projects a nearly 15% annual growth rate for hard seltzer through 2030. If industry trends continue, seltzer cans will only become more and more common at future Super Bowl parties.