Alcohol use has been falling for years in the United States, the World Cup’s main host, and across much of the world – a clear public health gain. The alcohol industry is openly counting on the tournament to reverse it, pouring money into sponsorships and bar promotions to drive beer, wine and spirits sales back up.

“Why the World Cup Is a ‘Make or Break’ Moment for Alcohol”

CNN reports:

“The World Cup will increase consumption of beer, wine and spirits without question,” beverage analyst Bourcard Nesin said. “It’s a big boost for them at a time when they need it in a market where they need it most.”

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Assessment

A years-long fall in alcohol use – industry sales dropped 6% in 2025 alone – is a public health gain, but for the alcohol corporations it is a crisis to be reversed. The United States is their hardest market: Diageo‘s North America revenue fell 9% in its latest quarter and its US spirits sales dropped 15%. Gallup found the share of Americans who use alcohol fell to 54% in 2025 – the lowest since it began polling in 1939, down from 62% in 2023.

The industry has answered with a marketing onslaught: AB InBev, the official beer sponsor for more than 40 years, is spending across the World Cup – sponsorship, advertising and bar promotions – and has put its “low-carb” Michelob Ultra on a trophy handed out to a player after every match. Heineken, not even a sponsor, has lifted its bar marketing spend by nearly 200%; Molson Coors has raised its summer ad spend by 60%. Diageo has broken new ground, becoming the World Cup’s first-ever spirits sponsor: for the first time liquor will be sold at the tournament, and only its brands will be served at stadiums and official fan festivals. Its own executive is blunt about the goal – sporting events’ “communal feeling” helps “recruit (new customers) in a big way.” Movendi members are documenting this marketing as it unfolds.

Some of that spend hides behind health-coded products – Molson Coors is using the tournament to push its alcohol-free Coors 0.0, and AB InBev’s trophy brand is its “low carb” beer – the same no- and low-alcohol extensions that keep alcohol brands in front of audiences, including children, while the companies present a wellness face. The business model is plain: Big Alcohol needs people to use more alcohol, and is betting that a month-long event reaching billions – many of them children – can undo a public health success.