Draft beer reclaimed the volume lost during last year’s National Football League (NFL) opening weekend (September 5-8), according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard.
“As America celebrated the return of professional football, so did draft beer, which realized an increase of +8% when compared to 2023,” BeerBoard wrote in a press release. “This was marked growth when looking deeper, as the weekend was -8.3% in 2023, when compared to 2022.”
During the first Monday Night Football (MNF) broadcast of the season, draft beer volume increased +2.5% compared to the first MNF of 2023, BeerBoard told Brewbound.
The lead draft brand nationwide during the weekend was Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Michelob Ultra, which increased volume +12.9% year-over-year (YoY), followed by No. 2 Molson Coors’ Miller Lite (+0.6%) and No. 3 Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial (+52.9%), according to BeerBoard. Molson Coors’ Coors Light and A-B’s Bud Light rounded out the top draft brands at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Light lagers were the best-selling style on draft and recorded a +7.6% increase YoY, followed by lagers (+22.5%), which were boosted by Modelo. IPAs were flat (+0.4%) and were the third best-selling style on draft.
Ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTD) drove the packaged beverage-alcohol category to a +5% increase YoY; RTDs themselves recorded +80% growth.
Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips Pineapple was the best-selling RTD, with 1.7% share of overall volume. Stateside Vodka’s Surfside Vodka Iced Tea and Lemonade was the second best-selling RTD.
Beer still led sales of packaged goods, with Constellation’s Corona Extra as the No. 1 packaged product across on-premise retailers. Corona’s bottle/can volume declined -3.5% YoY. Michelob Ultra was the second best-selling packaged product with a +26.7% boost in volume, followed by No. 3 Miller Lite (-4.6%), No. 4 Modelo Especial (+41.5%) and No. 5 Molson Coors’ Coors Light (-14.3%).