How America Drinks™
The Super Bowl LVIII Report
Who drank more - Chiefs or 49ers fans? How did the game going into overtime affect BAC levels? How much more did America drink on Super Bowl Sunday 2024? Let's dive in...
On February 11, while you were tracking the score, we were tracking the BAC (blood alcohol content) levels for over 1,000 breathalyzer users across the US. Here's what we found:
The Big Game = Big Drinking
As expected, the average % BAC level across the US increased 77% from an average non-holiday Sundays in 2023.
- Avg. BAC for Super Bowl Sunday 2024 - 0.069%
- Avg. BAC for Normal Sunday in 2023 - 0.039%
The Big Game = Big Chugging
Our findings around increased drinking during the Super Bowl and among Chiefs fans (more on that below) were further cemented by the most famous Chiefs fan of all - Taylor Swift - and her now-infamous chug.
Taylor Swift just chugged a beer when she was shown on the video board at the Super Bowl . pic.twitter.com/LPn55wWDBc
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 12, 2024
Halftime Show *Ushers* in More Drinking
Before the halftime show, Americans held fairly steady with their drinking. But after Usher hit the stage, America's BAC began to rise.
What was it about the halftime show spurred a wave of drinking? Maybe it was Usher ripping his shirt off. Maybe it was millennial excitement over "Yeah!" with Lil Jon, a staple of middle-school dances in the 2000s. One can only speculate.
Anyway, the BAC level kept rising, eventually reaching its peak level - 0.08% by the end of the game. Which, notably, was higher than 2023's end-of-game BAC of 0.07%. This year's Super Bowl went into overtime, so perhaps the increased number of nail-biting moments led to increased alcohol consumption.
However, the BAC then dipped to 0.072%, below 2023 levels. Maybe, as the game went on longer, fans had more time to metabolize their drinks. Or, since they'd been drinking for a longer period than they had in 2023... maybe 2024 was the year they hit their limit.
Hover over each point on the chart below to view BAC levels.
The Chiefs Unexpectedly Score Higher... Again
The 49ers were largely expected to win the Super Bowl, but the Chiefs scored the highest in the game - and their fans also had higher BAC levels than 49ers fans. This is particularly surprising, considering the 2023-24 season saw Chiefs fans drink the least of all NFL fans.
Methodology
Data for the BACtrack NFL 2024 Super Bowl Day was collected anonymously from users of the BACtrack app, which syncs with smartphone compatible BACtrack breathalyzers. Over 1,000 unique BAC tests were reviewed for this report. Data represents positive BAC readings. Game day periods represent the data from unique BAC tests collected anonymously from 6AM the day of game to 6AM the day after the game in EST.
