Will Japanese National Team Matches Change Dining Tables? Impact on Home Drinking Seen in FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, WBC

Lifescape Marketing Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kenji Ueda) has released the results of a survey on drinking behavior on days when Japanese national team sports matches are held, targeting married households (men and women aged 20 and over belonging to the household) with housewives aged 20 to 72 in the Tokyo metropolitan area (30 km radius).

Sports viewing drives 'home drinking'

Japanese national team sports events are not just viewing events; they also have a significant impact on consumers' dining tables. Using ShokuMAP®, an analysis of Japanese matches in the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, and WBC (World Baseball Classic) confirmed an increase in home drinking rates in all tournaments. The drinking inducement index in [Figure 1] is an indicator of the specificity of drinking behavior compared to usual, with larger values indicating a greater effect of inducing drinking compared to normal times.

Among them, the FIFA World Cup showed the highest drinking inducement effect, despite many matches being held late at night or early in the morning. On the other hand, the Rugby World Cup's impact became apparent after the 2015 tournament, and the WBC was found to generate stable drinking demand. In recent years, opportunities to watch live via streaming have increased, not just on TV, and the way people enjoy matches seems to be changing.

Figure 1.

Which tournament drove 'home drinking' the most?

Comparing past international tournaments, the FIFA World Cup 2022 (the previous Qatar tournament) showed the highest drinking inducement index [Figure 2]. The kickoff times (Japan time) were: first match vs. Germany on 11/23 (Labor Thanksgiving Day) at 22:00, second match vs. Costa Rica on 11/27 (Sun) at 19:00, third match vs. Spain on 12/2 (Fri) at 04:00, and the Round of 16 match vs. Croatia on 12/6 (Tue) at 00:00. Despite early morning and late-night matches, a higher drinking inducement effect than past major international tournaments was confirmed.

Figure 2.

Furthermore, many FIFA World Cup matches appeared at the top, highlighting once again the significant impact of Japanese national soccer team matches on home drinking. Generally, late-night, early morning, and daytime match times are considered unfavorable conditions for drinking behavior, but it is thought that the fact that the first match fell on Labor Thanksgiving Day, along with high expectations for the Japanese national team and high match visibility, outweighed those disadvantages.

Sports viewing is not just entertainment; it also affects how people spend time at the dining table and drinking opportunities. In particular, the FIFA World Cup is an event with the power to change consumer behavior regardless of the time it is held, and it appears that cheering for the Japanese national team is one of the key triggers for 'home drinking'.

With the FIFA World Cup 2026 now opening, we look forward to the success of the Japanese national team and the joyful toasts that will arise in many homes, and we will watch the tournament's progress with anticipation.

ShokuMAP® is a marketing information platform for dining table surveys targeting individual family members (males and females aged 0 and over) belonging to married households (housewives aged 20-72) and single-person households (males and females aged 20-77) within a 30 km radius of Tokyo.

"365 days" a year, we conduct survey analysis related to food, including menus and ingredients that make up daily meals, product usage (JAN tracking), household stock status, consumer food awareness, and daily feelings.

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