The States Most Likely to Order Pizza During the World Cup (2026)
Vegas Insider · Data Study · 2026
The States Most Likely to Order Pizza During the World Cup (2026)
The Real Halftime Show
Tens of millions of Americans will watch the 2026 World Cup with a pizza box on the coffee table. To predict which states will lead the country on delivery demand, Vegas Insider looked at Google Trends search interest for "pizza near me" across all 50 US states, tracked against eight major soccer events in 2025 as proxies for World Cup viewing behaviour.
Rhode Island and Delaware are the strongest indicators — both averaged 75 out of 100 on soccer game days in 2025. Rhode Island leads on next-day demand with a score of 85, the highest in the nation. Ohio, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania complete the projected top five.
The most striking pattern in the data: in 44 out of 51 markets, pizza demand was higher the day after a match than during it. If that pattern holds during the World Cup, the post-game order may be the bigger opportunity for delivery operators than the halftime rush.
Key Findings
- Rhode Island and Delaware averaged the highest game-day scores in 2025 at 75 out of 100, suggesting both states are likely to lead pizza delivery demand during this summer's matches.
- Ohio and South Dakota both averaged 67 in 2025. Ohio's consistent performance across all eight tracked events — including a perfect 100 during the UEFA Champions League Final — makes it the most reliable indicator in the Midwest.
- Pennsylvania averaged 66 in 2025 with a next-day score of 75, one of the biggest post-game climbs in the projected top ten.
- The post-game pattern is the clearest signal in the data. 44 of 51 measured markets showed higher pizza search interest the day after a soccer match than on game day itself in 2025.
- Washington DC showed the largest single post-game surge in 2025 — jumping +29 points the day after a match, from 54 on game day to 83 the following morning.
The Top 10 States Most Likely to Order Pizza During the World Cup
1 Rhode Island
Rhode Island averaged the joint-highest game-day score in the 2025 dataset at 75 out of 100, sharing top spot with Delaware. It leads overall on next-day demand with an average of 85 — the highest subsequent-day score in the country.
Providence has a dense Italian-American population and one of the deepest pizza cultures in the nation. The state is famous for its party-style strips, and that heritage shows up consistently in the data across every tracked event.
Based on 2025 patterns, Rhode Islanders are likely to extend the occasion well into the morning after the final whistle.
2 Delaware
Delaware matched Rhode Island in the 2025 data with a game-day average of 75 and posted a next-day average of 82, the second-highest in the dataset. For one of the smallest states in the country, these numbers are extraordinary.
Sitting in the Philadelphia delivery corridor, Delaware benefits from some of the densest pizza infrastructure on the East Coast. Consistent top-quartile performance across every tracked event makes it one of the strongest predictors in the study.
3 Ohio
Ohio averaged 67 across the 2025 tracked events and never dropped below 58 in any single event — a consistency floor no other large state matched. Its peak of 100 during the UEFA Champions League Final is the highest single-event reading in the entire dataset.
Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are three of the most pizza-dense metros in the country. Ohio's working-class sports culture and massive collegiate population make it the most reliable delivery indicator in the Midwest.
4 South Dakota
South Dakota matched Ohio's average of 67 in 2025, driven by two MLS events that both returned a score of 100. With data from only two tracked events the sample is smaller than other states, but the scores are genuine and consistent.
South Dakota doesn't show up often in pizza delivery conversations, but the 2025 data suggests a highly engaged audience on soccer game days — one worth watching as the tournament brings a much larger viewing audience this summer.
5 Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania averaged 66 in 2025 and posted a next-day average of 75 — a nine-point jump that is one of the largest post-game climbs in the projected top ten.
Philadelphia's competitive pizza scene and Pittsburgh's blue-collar sporting culture produced delivery numbers in 2025 that rival the biggest markets in the country. Philadelphia is a tournament host city this summer, which could push those numbers higher still. Check the latest World Cup odds to see how the host nation is shaping up.
6 South Carolina
South Carolina is the biggest surprise in the projected top ten. A 2025 average of 64 outperformed every other Sun Belt state, driven by coastal tourist demand and fast-growing metros across Charleston, Columbia, and the Myrtle Beach corridor.
It's an early signal that soccer-day pizza demand in the Southeast may be catching up to the traditional Northeast belt faster than the national averages suggest.
7 Michigan
Michigan matched New Hampshire at seventh in the 2025 data but edges ahead on next-day average with a score of 73. Detroit is one of the most pizza-obsessed metros in the country and the birthplace of Detroit-style deep dish.
The 2025 data suggests Michigan viewers are likely to come back for more the morning after the match.
8 New Hampshire
New Hampshire matched Michigan in the 2025 data and is the third New England state to appear in the projected top ten alongside Rhode Island and Connecticut. Its next-day average of 69 reflects a small but consistently engaged delivery base.
New England's dominance across this study is not an accident. The region has the deepest pizza culture, the densest delivery infrastructure, and a sports-watching population that has consistently treated soccer game nights as a full domestic occasion.
9 Florida
Florida is the largest state in the projected top ten and the only Sun Belt mega-market to make the list. Miami's Latin soccer fanbase drove strong match-day demand in 2025, with Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville adding consistent volume.
Miami is a tournament host city this summer, so actual game-day scores could run well above these 2025 proxy numbers when the matches arrive. Keep an eye on the soccer odds as group stage fixtures are confirmed.
10 West Virginia
West Virginia matched Florida's 2025 game-day average of 59 but ranks tenth on the strength of its post-game surge. Its next-day average of 71 was a +12-point jump — the biggest post-game climb of any state in the projected top ten.
A small but consistently active delivery base in Charleston and Morgantown produced numbers in 2025 that most larger states couldn't match. Based on last year's data, this state appears likely to order the morning after.
The Post-Game Pizza Pattern: Where Demand Could Surge After the Final Whistle
The clearest pattern in the 2025 data: demand peaked the day after a match rather than during it across most markets. In 44 of 51 measured states, "pizza near me" search interest was higher the following morning. If that pattern repeats during the World Cup, the post-game window may be the bigger opportunity for delivery operators.
Washington DC showed the largest post-game surge in 2025 — +29 points the day after a match, from 54 on game day to 83 the following morning. Hawaii (+24 pts) and Colorado (+15 pts) also showed strong next-day spikes, both markets with younger demographics increasingly aligned with global football.
Montana is the lone outlier in the 2025 data — the only state where pizza interest was higher during the match than the day after. With just one data point it should be treated cautiously, but it suggests a small, engaged audience that treats match day itself as the pizza occasion.
| State | 2025 Game Day | 2025 Next Day | Post-Game Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington DC | 54 | 83 | +29 pts |
| Hawaii | 34 | 58 | +24 pts |
| Colorado | 39 | 54 | +15 pts |
| Maine | 45 | 59 | +14 pts |
| West Virginia | 59 | 71 | +12 pts |
| Idaho | 38 | 50 | +12 pts |
| Rhode Island | 75 | 85 | +10 pts |
DC's +29 was more than double the national median post-game lift in 2025. If that pattern holds this summer, the capital could be one of the biggest post-match pizza markets in the country.
Expert Comment
"The 2025 data points to a shift in how Americans order pizza around soccer. The pattern we see consistently is that demand rises after the match rather than during it."
"Across almost every state we tracked, search interest for pizza delivery was higher the morning after a big game than on the day itself. That's a strong signal for what we could see playing out on a much larger scale this summer."
"Every local pizza market should be looking at this. If you're planning capacity only around kick-off, you may be staffing for the wrong window."
"This will be the biggest soccer event ever held on US soil. If 2025 patterns repeat, the pizza industry could be looking at an entire summer of two-day demand cycles — not just single-night spikes."
Vegas Insider Sports Betting and Gaming Data Analyst
Order Early or Order After: What the Data Suggests
Based on 2025 soccer event data, Rhode Island and Delaware look like the strongest pizza delivery markets heading into this summer. Ohio and South Dakota tie at 67. Pennsylvania sits at 66. The projected top five span New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Rust Belt, and the Midwest — states where deep pizza culture and a sports-watching population that treats matches as a domestic occasion have consistently driven high delivery demand.
The data also challenges the conventional assumption about timing. In nearly every state tracked in 2025, search interest for pizza delivery was higher the day after a soccer match than during it. If that pattern repeats, delivery operators planning capacity only around kick-off could be missing the bigger window.
California and New York, the two most populous states, produced some of the lowest scores in the 2025 data — averaging just 31 and 39 respectively. If those patterns hold, the story of this summer's pizza market may not be written on the coasts. It could be written in Providence, Dover, Columbus, and Philadelphia.
Based on the data, the biggest pizza markets this summer may not be where you'd expect.
Methodology
What we measured: Google Trends search interest for the query "pizza near me" across all 50 US states and Washington DC.
When: Eight major soccer events in 2025 were used as proxies for World Cup viewing behaviour: the UEFA Champions League Final, UEFA Women's Champions League Final, Premier League Decision Day, FA Cup Final, MLS Rivalry Week, MLS Decision Day, MLS Cup Final, and the NWSL Championship. Both the match day and the following day were recorded for each event. All scores and rankings reflect 2025 data and are used to project likely behaviour during this summer's tournament — they are not based on actual World Cup data.
How scores work: Google Trends scores run from 0 to 100. A score of 100 represents peak search interest for that term in that state during the measurement window — not an absolute volume figure. Scores are relative and comparable across states but not across different time periods.
What was excluded: States that returned no data across all eight events are excluded from the rankings. All averages are the mean of available data points per state. Data was extracted in Q1 2026.
Sources
- Google Trends: Search interest data for "pizza near me," US states, 2025
- UEFA: UEFA Champions League Final 2025, match details and dates
- Premier League: Premier League 2024/25, Final Day fixtures and results
- Major League Soccer: MLS 2025 season, Decision Day and Cup Final
- The FA: FA Cup Final 2025, Wembley Stadium
- NWSL: NWSL Championship 2025
- FIFA: FIFA World Cup 2026, host cities and tournament structure
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