Gen-Zers are drinking noticeably less overall but even less at concerts compared to other age groups. According to a new report from Billboard, members of the demographic (born between 1997 to 2012) have been drinking a reduced amount of alcohol, which is impacting smaller live concert venue owners.

David Slutes, entertainment director of the 325-capacity historic hotel and nightclub Club Congress has noticed a 25-percent reduction in alcohol sales amongst Gen-Z crowds in comparison to older generations.

“Coming out of COVID-19, everything about the live music business was turned upside down,” Slutes told Billboard. “We weren’t sure why the numbers were like this. Then we did a deeper dive, and at every event aimed at a Gen Z crowd, we saw numbers that were very different.”

At the Music Biz conference in Nashville last month, Dayna Frank, CEO and president of concert venue and promotion company First Avenue Productions, also spoke on the decline in alcohol consumption.

“One of the big trends we’re seeing is that Gen Z doesn’t drink as much,” she said. “They’re either eating edibles before they come or there’s more of a sober, mental health [focus]… Most of the ticket price goes on to the band, so really what [venues] subsist on is beverages. That’s not going to be a sustainable revenue stream.”

With Gen-Z becoming a relatively ‘sober generation,’ a 2018 report from Berenberg Research shows that the demographic drinks 20-percent less than millennials, while millennials are also drinking less than Gen-X and Baby Boomers. As Gen-Z continues to refuse alcohol indulgence, the public is likely to see increased promotion of non-alcoholic beverages like mocktails and CBD-infused drinks.