More than one-third (38%) of consumers plan to visit on-premise establishments for Labor Day (September 2), according to CGA, the on-premise arm of market research firm NIQ.
CGA surveyed 1,602 legal-drinking-age (LDA) consumers across Texas, New York, Florida and California between August 14 and 15. All respondents visited the on-premise at least once in the past three months.
The percentage of respondents planning to visit the on-premise for Labor Day increases to 47% when including only 35-54 year olds, and to 52% when including only 21-34 year olds.
Beer remains the bev-alc beverage of choice, with 41% of CGA survey respondents planning to purchase beer while visiting the on-premise for the Labor Day holiday. Nearly one-quarter of visitors plan to purchase cocktails (24%), followed by table wine (20%), vodka (19%) and whiskey (18%).
The plurality of respondents planning to celebrate in the on-premise plan to go to sports bars (27%), followed closely behind by neighborhood bars (26%) and casual dining chains (25%). Nearly half of respondents (48%) plan to visit in the early evening (5-8 p.m.), followed by “happy hour” (24%), lunch 33%, late evening a.k.a. between 8-10 p.m. (31%) and mid-afternoon a.k.a. between 2-5 p.m. (26%).
Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and will be followed by the unofficial start of fall: football season. The 2024 National Football League (NFL) season will kick off Thursday, September 5, with the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
A majority of CGA survey respondents (70%) plan to watch NFL Week 1. More than half of those planning to watch (54%) plan to do so at home, while 18% plan to watch at bars or restaurants and 8% plan to watch live in a stadium.
College football kicked off Saturday. More than half of survey respondents (56%) said they plan to watch in this first week, with 42% planning to watch at home, 15% to watch in bars and restaurants and 8% planning to watch at stadiums.
Additionally, more than half of respondents planning to visit the on-premise for NFL or college football (53%) plan to participate in sports betting or fantasy sports while at bars and restaurants.
Beer is the most popular beverage (non-alc and bev-alc) with NFL fans, with 49% planning to purchase beer while watching Week 1 NFL games in the on-premise. Cocktails and soft drinks were the second most popular (both 30%), followed by vodka (29%), “shots” (28%), tequila (27%), hard seltzer (26%), ready-to-drink bev-alc (24%), energy drinks (24%) and whiskey (24%).
Similarly, college football fans plan to purchase beer in the on-premise this week (41%), followed by soft drinks (35%), cocktails (29%), vodka (24%), whiskey (23%), ready-to-drink offerings (23%), shots (22%), hard seltzer (21%), liqueurs/specialty drinks (21%), “spirits and mixer” (20%), energy drinks (20%) and non-alcoholic adult beverages (20%).
For the remainder of 2024, consumers plan to prioritize their on-premise spending for catching up with friends (42%), followed by drinks with food (39%), celebrations such as birthdays and weddings (36%), vacations (33%), “treat/reward” (31%), “wind down/chill out” (23%), romantic occasions (22%), watching a sporting event (21%), brunch (14%), “a regular/everyday drink” (14%), after-work drinks (14%), “high-tempo occasions” (7%) and business meetings (6%).
Three-quarters of total respondents visited the on-premise for food-led occasions in the past month, a -1% decline versus July 2024. Nearly half (46%) visited for drink-led occasions, a +2% increase versus the same period in 2024. Similarly, 76% plan to go out for food-led occasions in the next month, and 44% plan to go out for drink-led occasions.
Looking ahead to 2025, 58% of respondents “feel optimistic about 2025 overall.” That percentage increases to 72% when including only 21- to 34-year-olds, but decreases to 47% when including only respondents over the age of 55.
More than half of respondents plan to visit the on-premise the same amount in 2025 as they have in 2024 (58%), and to spend a similar amount of money (54%). About one-quarter (26%) plan to visit less frequently, with a similar percentage (22%) planning to spend less.
More than one-in-ten (11%) plan to visit more. However, that decreases to 4% when including only 55+ consumers. Similarly, 19% of respondents plan to spend more money in the on-premise in 2025, but that percentage declines to 8% when only including 55+ consumers. However, 29% of 21- to 34-year-olds plan to spend more in 2025.