With football season just kicking off, retailers are highlighting the growing popularity of tailgating, which has grown an estimated 12 percent annually during the past five years.
In 2006, more than 20 million Americans partook in the pastime in stadium parking lots across the country, according to the American Tailgaters Association.
With increased popularity has come increased sophistication. Gone are the days of lunch box coolers and handheld AM/FM radios. Now, sports fans are installing mobile satellite TVs to watch other games while tailgating and catering their menus.
The metro area is known for its “tailgating friendliness,” ranking 12th among 31 cities with NFL teams (plus Los Angeles) in a football-tailgating-cities index compiled for the first time this year.
The list was compiled by KVH Industries and DirecTV, which offer automotive TV systems and services. They got the input of a group of “professional tailgaters,” including Joe Cahn, who runs tailgating.com. Among them, these professionals have traveled to all the NFL stadiums in the country.
“Baltimore and Washington have many rabid fans,” said Bob Ochsner, spokesman for KVH Industries and DirecTV. “The fan enthusiasm is very high in Washington compared to other markets.”
Oschner has the sales records to prove it — Washington ranked second in per capita sales of NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV’s home package for NFL games.
It ranked eighth in overall sales of NFL Sunday Ticket when included with KVH’s TV systems for cars and RVs (the RV package is not exclusively sold with DirecTV). Baltimore ranked fourth overall in this latter category.
Sports fans are “taking it to a new level,” said Chris Watson, spokesman for KVH. “The market is just starting to emerge for automotive satellite TV.”
Besides technology, food selection is also becoming more refined. John Snedden, founder of Rocklands Catering, has noticed a pickup in demand for tailgating parties over the past few years. Some people buy boxed meals, while others order full catering services. Party attendance can reach into the triple digits, said Snedden, who has stores in Alexandria, Washington and Rockville. “People are trying to make it more of an event. … A lot of the events are corporate-driven and used for entertainment activities.”
