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During England\u2019s semi-final match in the European Championship that saw it secure its place in the final against Spain (though only to lose the match four days later), anxious British fans chugged a whopping 12.5 million pints<\/a> of beer in the game\u2019s 90-minute duration. But not all pub patrons are chasing an alcohol-induced buzz.<\/p>\n Sales of low- and no-alcohol beers soared during the Euro football championship, according to a Tuesday report from market research firm Kantar<\/a>. While beer sales across UK grocers increased 2.2% over the four-week duration of the games leading up to July 7, and 13% on England\u2019s match days, sales of \u201cnolo\u201d beer skyrocketed by 38%.<\/p>\n With most of England\u2019s matches falling on weeknights, Brits were likely less interested in heavy drinking over the course of the championship. Boosted by trends like \u201czebra striping<\/a>\u201d\u2014alternating between alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks throughout the night\u2014and a growing sober-curious culture<\/a>, alcohol-free beers have enjoyed increasing popularity.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a departure from the country\u2019s culture of swaths of rabid sports fans whose boozy shenanigans have earned them a reputation of sloppiness<\/a> and\u2014in the case of a small minority\u2014drunken violence<\/a>. But for today\u2019s British sports fans, staying sober isn\u2019t a matter of no longer feeling impassioned; they just don\u2019t want morning-after headaches.<\/p>\n The rise of nolo beer and beverage sales follows Gen Z\u2019s waning interest in drinking. As of 2021, more than one-third of young people 16 to 26 in the UK don\u2019t drink, according to the National Health Service\u2019s Health Survey for England<\/a>. Fuelled by social anxiety and financial angst keeping them at home<\/a> and health consciousness keeping them from drinking, Gen Z is instead turning to alcohol-free alternatives to well fixtures.<\/p>\n Beverage companies are already catching on, with companies like non-alcoholic beer producer Athletic Brewing<\/a> recently doubling its valuation<\/a> to $800 million and beer giants like Heineken<\/a> and Guinness launching their own zero-alcohol beer alternatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we launched in 2018, the world was a very different place,\u201d Luke Boase, the founder of UK-based alcohol-free beer producer Lucky Saint, told the Guardian<\/em><\/a>. \u201cAlcohol-free used to be a dry January thing, but now it\u2019s year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking to cash in on the changing tastes of fans, Big Beer is finding sponsorship success on sports\u2019 biggest stages. The Paris Olympics<\/a> will make history<\/a> as the first of the games to have a beer sponsor: Corona Cero, which contains no alcohol. Produced by the world\u2019s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev<\/a>, Corona Cero was developed two years ago as a way for the beer giant to tap into nolo beers\u2019 $13 billion market<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are already signs of beverage companies finding competition of their own in the world of sports. Carlsberg<\/a> is positioning its alcohol-free beer<\/a> Tourtel Twist as the Olympic Games\u2019 nolo beer-of-choice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the official beer of Paris and France,\u201d Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said<\/a>. \u201c[Corona Cero is] the official beer of the Olympic movement. At the events you are going to be served Tourtel.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond<\/a> following consumer demands, beverage companies have capitalized on the Olympics\u2019 messages of athletic feats and high performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of sports events like the Olympics where the flagship brands are often the 0% variant,\u201d Susie Goldspink, drinks market analyst at market researcher IWSR, told Bloomberg<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s partly because it\u2019s such a growing area but it also helps with their moderation agenda of responsible drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n The trend is already spreading to elite sporting stages across Europe. Events like the Six Nations rugby tournament, Tour de France, and Formula 1 are embracing partnerships<\/a> with beer brands offering nolo alternatives. F1 world champion driver Lewis Hamilton launched a zero-proof tequila company, and fellow driver Max Verstappen has a brand collaboration with Heineken\u2019s Player 0.0. They\u2019ll likely bring even more fans along with them.<\/p>\n \u201cTying superstars like the two above to your product presents the opportunity to illustrate that it is \u2018cool\u2019 to choose non-alcoholic options,\u201d Austin Schneider, director of business development at marketing firm Sport Dimensions, told Blackbook Motorsport<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt allows fans who see parts of themselves in the drivers extend into the types of drinks they enjoy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nNolo beers flood sporting events<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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