It’s hard to find a better barometer of World Cup fever than cash register receipts. In Seattle, a host city for the tournament, beer sales rose 212% in bars and restaurants on match nights, according to data reported by several establishments in the city. Hot dogs, nachos, and chicken wings follow the same curve.
The scenario repeats in most host cities: sports bars transformed, for the length of a match, into makeshift mini fan zones, where fans of sometimes very different nationalities gather in front of the same screen. A video showing European fans turning a typical American sports bar into a scene of international celebration — chants, flags, final-like atmosphere — has widely circulated in recent weeks.
For local restaurants, the effect is concrete: match days are easily worth a typical weekend service, and establishments near fan zones or big screens are already adjusting their stock ahead of the quarterfinals, which begin July 9 in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Kansas City.