The World Cup has come to America. Forty-eight nations, 104 games, three host countries. But, according to new Attest research, most US fans won’t leave their living rooms to experience it.
It’s not that they don’t care: more than 8 in 10 Americans plan to actively watch most or all of the tournament’s games, showing engagement is high. But the venue of choice, by an overwhelming margin, is home.
Brands have poured billions into stadium sponsorships, fan parks, and bar activations for major tournaments. Yet, if 68% of viewers are watching from home, the biggest commercial opportunity is sitting right on the sofa.
TL;DR
- 68% of US fans say home is their primary viewing location for World Cup 2026
- 83% plan to actively watch most or all games — this is a high-engagement audience
- Two thirds of viewers will watch in groups of two or more, making this a social occasion
- Pizza (48%), snacks (43%), and soft drinks (53%) are the staple food and drink choices at home
- Fan parks attract just 7% of viewers; bars reach fewer than 3 in 10
- Brands should target the host-buyer — the person provisioning food and drink for the group
The sofa is the stadium
Attest surveyed 500 US adults about their World Cup 2026 viewing plans, and found 8 in 10 plan to watch World Cup 2026 games at home at some point across the tournament. More than two thirds name home as their primary viewing location. The next closest venue is a friend or family member’s house (13%), followed by bars (6% as a primary location) and sports clubs (4%).
This isn’t a passive audience: a third of respondents say they will try to watch all of the games. A further quarter will try to watch as many as possible, and almost a quarter plan to watch most of them. Added together, 83% of US fans are committed to serious, sustained viewing — they are simply doing it at home.
Critically, they are not doing it alone. Just 18% of viewers plan to watch solo. A third expect to watch with one to two other people, and 3 in 10 will watch with three to five buddies. Nearly 1 in 7 expect groups of six or more. The home viewing occasion is a shared one, which changes the commercial calculus. This is not someone cracking open a beer by themselves; it is someone hosting.
The host is the buyer — and they are feeding a crowd
Understanding that home viewing is social reframes the food and drink opportunity. The person stocking the fridge, ordering the pizza, and buying the snacks is making purchasing decisions on behalf of a group. That is a different consumer need state than individual impulse, and it represents a higher-value basket.
Pizza dominates: 48% of home viewers plan to eat it during games. Snacks follow at 43%, with chicken wings at 35%, nachos at 31%, and burgers at 29%. Delivery and takeout is selected by 21% — a meaningful proportion, given that the order is likely to cover multiple people.
On the drinks side, the most striking finding is that soft drinks (53%) comfortably outscore beer (40%) as the most expected at-home beverage, with water close behind at 41%. Spirits and mixers (25%), wine (22%), and cocktails (21%) round out the top tier. Energy drinks, at 21%, match delivery food in prevalence — a sign of that category’s successful expansion into the sports viewing occasion.
Beer brands have long owned the football advertising space, but they are competing for share in a home environment where more than half of viewers will reach for a soft drink first. Snack, pizza, and delivery brands are fighting for the most commercially attractive moment in the viewing occasion: the group purchase.
On-premise matters but reaches a minority
Bars will play a role in this World Cup, but not a starring one. Twenty-eight percent of US fans plan to watch some games at a bar, and a further 19% at a sports club. For the early rounds and high-profile knockout games, on-premise venues will generate significant footfall and media attention. Brands should not abandon bar activations — particularly for the high-engagement audiences of Millennials and Gen Z, who over-index on bar watching (31% and 34% respectively).
But only 6% of US fans name a bar as their primary viewing location. Fan parks, despite significant investment from host cities and sponsors, attract just 7% of respondents. Even stadium attendance — for those with actual tickets — is limited to 14% of the sample, and skews heavily toward younger consumers (Gen Z at 22%).
On-premise is a real but secondary channel. It should be treated as a reach amplifier and cultural moment rather than the main event.
What this means for brands
The World Cup is a living room event. That means the commercial battleground for food and drink brands is the supermarket shelf, the delivery app, and the in-home consumption occasion — not the bar or the fan park.
Brands should identify and target the host-buyer persona: the person who plans, shops, and orders for the group. This consumer is making considered pre-game purchases and is the most likely to respond to advertising, in-store placement, and meal deal bundling in the days before big matches. Recipe content, meal inspiration, and multi-serve packaging all become relevant creative territories.
Delivery brands and food apps have a specific window. With 21% of home viewers planning to order in during games, and group sizes averaging three to five, the average match-day order represents a higher ticket value than a routine weeknight meal. Targeting the occasion, not just the category, is the right frame.
Brands should identify and target the host-buyer persona: the person who plans, shops, and orders for the group.
For alcohol brands, the soft drink data should prompt a serious audit of creative strategy. Beer retains significant reach (40%), but it shares the home occasion with categories that have historically not competed as hard for sports sponsorship. The non-alcoholic alternative segment (11%) is small but growing, and is disproportionately relevant to female viewers and Gen Z.
Finally, brands investing in stadium and fan park activations should stress-test whether those activations are reaching the right volume to justify spend. For most consumer brands, the living room is where the game — and the commercial opportunity — is being played.
Methodology
Data is based on 500 US adults surveyed via Attest ahead of World Cup 2026. The sample is gender-balanced (51% female, 49% male) and spans four generational cohorts: Gen Z (21%), Millennials (35%), Gen X (33%), and Boomers (11%). Only respondents who indicated they would be watching or following the tournament in some capacity were qualified in.
