AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As football fans across the country competitively gear up for the start of the season, many are preparing for a more friendly gathering among rivals: tailgating. According to a recent survey conducted by digital savings destination RetailMeNot, 43 percent of Americans plan to purchase game-day staples such as hot dogs, hamburgers and chips and dip this football season and expect to spend an average of $143 per game.

The Tailgating Industry Association has projected spending to be around $20 billion for food and supplies, with 42% of tailgaters spending an average of $500 a season for all their tailgating necessities, but that number is expected to be higher this year.

"With travel costs decreasing, sports fans are more likely to travel to their team's games and tailgate with other fans this year," says Sara Skirboll, resident shopping and trends expert for RetailMeNot.

Location, Location, Location

Nearly one in four (24%) of Americans expect to purchase tickets to the big game this season.  60% of fans who purchase tickets are men versus 20% of women who are willing to splurge. Being there for the game often means sporting the right gear for pre-game festivities – 59% of American tailgaters use a combination of grills, stoves and smokers to cook before the kick-off.

In the case that the big game is on the away turf, that still won't stop super fans from making it to the stands for kick-off – 21% of Americans will spend on travel to get to the game this football season, spending an average of $134 a game to watch their team play live.

Tailgate in football style

Nearly half (46%) of football fans tailgate anywhere from six to ten times a season and that requires a lot of team spirit. That means showing up to a tailgate with more than just your game face on! One in four (25%) Americans will get ready for game-time by purchasing apparel to support their favorite team and rock game day colors. That includes jerseys, face and body paint and even sports hats and scarves.

Visit RetailMeNot to find game day deals from apparel, grills, TVs to pizza.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Sara Skirboll, contact Katie Hammill khammill@rmn.com

Survey Methodology

The RetailMeNot June 2016 survey was conducted between June 10th and June 16th, 2016, among 1,007 nationally representative Americans ages 18 and over, using an e-mail invitation and an online survey. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the entire U.S. population ages 18 and over. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly higher.

About RetailMeNot, Inc.

RetailMeNot (http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading digital savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers to save money while they shop or dine out. During the 12 months ended June 30, 2016, RetailMeNot, Inc. experienced over 688 million visits to its websites. It also averaged 18.8 million mobile unique visitors per month during the three months ended June 30, 2016. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that approximately $4.8 billion in retailer sales were attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in its marketplace in 2015, more than $600 million of which were attributable to its in-store solution. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications includes RetailMeNot.com in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; retailmenot.de in Germany; Actiepagina.nl in the Netherlands; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com in France; RetailMeNot.es in Spain, RetailMeNot.it in Italy, RetailMeNot.pl in Poland and GiftCardZen.com and Deals2Buy.com in North America. RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol "SALE." Investors interested in learning more about the company can visit http://investor.retailmenot.com.

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SOURCE RetailMeNot, Inc.