Your Fantasy Wine League
Have you ever heard of the song Wine and Sports by Ben Folds Five? You will likely nod with me that there is a hefty association there with a good bottle of wine when it comes to Sports theme partying.
There’s been a gradual movement of many sports fans, particularly female NFL and College football followers from beer to wine as their preferred alcoholic beverage when watching a game or when in a sports-related gathering. I’m not sure that beer is totally threatened to extinction as the tailgate beverage of choice just yet, but I think that quite a few fans can relate the characteristics of their favorite bottle of wine to their individual NFL team preferences.
If anyone is really taking this pairing of wine and football seriously, it is retail outlet Vino 100 in Columbus, Ohio. These guys get it. The Vino 100 Fantasy Wine League caters to Ohio’s Buckeye’s but that’s to be expected. Buckeye football is Ohio’s religion as it just gets harder each season for state residents to turn to Cincinnati for the Bengals or Cleveland with the Browns. So, maybe, this is where more women are beginning to plant the wine football flag.
Most sports leagues have official beer sponsorships, but I think the time is near to contemplate wine deals. Nielsen found that wine consumption among U.S. sports fans was up $14.60 in 2006 to $81.40 per household. The highest spending fan, believe it or not, was in households with at least one fan of the LPGA ($125). Tennis fans came in second ($111.90) and PGA fans finished third at $109.40 — spending for them actually went down in 2006 by some 30 percent.
The biggest gain was among NFL fans who spent more than 60 percent more on wine this year than last year. An NFL fan household now spends $94.30. Sports figures who own wine brands include: Mike Ditka, Tom Seaver, Greg Norman, Joe Montana, Mario Andretti and John Madden.
The NFL has some pretty strict policies for players and reps and how far alcohol association can go. Why not loosen it up a tad. Let the wine in. A delicate Pinot Noir over those tired Coors Light ads can’t be that far away. Right Coach? NFL doesn’t have to stand for the No Fun League forever. Let’s put the Jet’s QB Mark Sanchez in the wine isle shopping, bumping into Madden, then both (after the obligatory high-five) decide that half time, from here on out, should have a great bouquet. Just sayin….
