1st Quarter Results: Which Brands are Winning Football Tailgaters?

Every Saturday over the first four weeks of the college football season, Field Agent went on-location with a handful of tailgating parties. Our purpose was, and will be throughout the season, to determine the brands and products fans purchase for tailgating parties. Here’s a glance at the 1^st Quarter scoreboard.

Check the Field Agent blog throughout football season as we update results to ultimately determine which brands and products are winning tailgaters.

The 1^st Quarter results below were obtained from an in-the-moment survey of 30 different tailgating parties at 30 different game day venues across the country (see map). Percentages in the graphic represent the proportion of tailgating parties serving the specified brands/products. And see below for additional tailgater insights.

See also: Selling to Football Fans: How Brands Win with 3 Game-Changing Plays

Additional Tailgating Consumer Insights:

Why do fans participate in tailgating? 

• Almost all, 93%, said they do it for a chance to socialize with friends and/or family. Rounding out the top five: food/beverages (53%), relaxing/unwinding (33%), tradition (33%), and showing support for school/team (30%).

When will your tailgating party take place?

• 93% said they tailgate before the game.
• 27% reported tailgating after the game, either exclusively or as an encore to their pre-game party.

Where were your main dishes prepared?

• 53% reported they prepared their main dishes “mainly at home.”
• 37% prepared them “mainly at the tailgating party.”

Which is more important to your overall game day experience?

• Exactly half answered “the game itself.”
• The other half answered either “the tailgating party” (20%) or "they're equally important to me" (30%).

In February, Field Agent conducted its inaugural Game Day Brand Wars campaign, in which we tracked—in real-time—the beer, soda, and chip brands Super Bowl viewers consumed during the biggest game of the year.

While surveying tailgaters over the first four weeks of college football, we also asked them to video their food and beverage spreads. Here are some 1st Quarter video highlights.