The football season has kicked off on the gridiron, as well as at retail. While the arrival of college and professional football offers ample opportunity to sell team jerseys and caps as well as flat screen TVs to watch the game at home, the biggest emerging trend appears to be around selling food and supplies for tailgating at the games.
Tailgating Times estimates that nearly 70 million Americans will attend the "party in the parking lot" this year before NFL and NCAA football games. And according to tailgating.com, about 42 percent of tailgaters spend more than $500 each season on food and supplies. In response, a number of retailers and food suppliers have aggressively launched major or minor advertising pushes around tailgating.
Walmart has transformed the garden centers at more than 1,700 stores to Game Time Headquarters, selling team-logo caps, jerseys and armchairs, as well as coolers, grills, hot dogs, boneless chicken, chips, potato skins and assorted beverages for tailgate parties. On its Game Time page, fans can download team schedules, send e-mails about game day events and tailgating parties, and find menus and advice on throwing tailgate parties. They can also play the Pre-Game Hustle video game, in which contestants use a shopping cart to catch 100 typical tailgating items spiraling down the computer screen.
On the vendor side, Del Monte and CBS Sports are co-promoting the Ultimate Fan video contest, giving "fruit and vegetable-consuming tailgaters" a chance to win flat screen TVs, tailgating gear, sports merchandise as well as pineapples. On Del Monte's site, contestants submit a video portraying how Del Monte fruits and vegetables were included in a tailgate party. The videos are judged on creativity, the use of Del Monte produce, team spirit, and web suitability. Participating retailers in the campaign include Safeway, Food Lion, Tops Markets, Schnucks and Aldi.
These campaigns and others are bolstered by additional data from tailgating.com supporting the tailgating trend:
- Fifty-one percent of tailgaters set-up their tailgate three to four hours before the game; 39 percent set-up more than five hours before kick-off;
- Forty-six percent of tailgaters tailgate six to 10 times a season, 21 percent 11 to 15 times, and eight percent more than 16 games in a season;
- Fifty-nine percent use a combination of grills, stoves, and smokers to cook; 95 percent prepare their food at the stadium;
- Forty-four percent of tailgate food is bought by both the husband and wife, 27 percent by just the husband, and 21 percent of tailgaters leave the shopping to someone else.
"Tailgating gets bigger every year because of the sense of community," said Joe Cahn, the self-proclaimed commissioner of tailgating and owner of tailgating.com. "It's become the 'New American Social,' the last great neighborhood. More people are participating and more people are learning ways to tailgate better and with gas prices going up and ticket prices rising it's great to know that no matter what you put on the grill from hamburgers to lobsters you're going to have a great time."
Discussion Questions: How would you rate the market opportunity around tailgating? What do you think retailers still have to learn about tailgaters and the tailgating experience?