Super Bowl LIX Means Americans Set To Devour 1.47 Billion Chicken Wings

With Super Bowl LIX on the immediate horizon, lovers of the big game from coast to coast are stocking up on party essentials. After the kickoff sets the scene for a gridiron battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, the feasting — from the coffee table to the bar countertop — will begin in earnest.

And Americans are taking that challenge seriously, according to FOX Business. Citing data from the National Chicken Council (NCC), American sports fans are anticipated to devour some 1.47 billion chicken wings during the big game. While that may seem an impossible number of saucy snacks, it’s actually 20 million more than were consumed during last year’s Super Bowl game between the losing San Francisco 49ers and the victorious Kansas City Chiefs.

“[That amount of wings] would stretch to and from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. about 63 times,” the NCC stated.

The Super Bowl Gets People in a Snacky Mood, and Chicken Wings Are No Exception

Referring to Circana retail data, the NCC indicated that the sale of chicken wings shot up by 12% nationwide for the four weeks ending Jan. 19 versus last year. That’s well in advance of this year’s Super Bowl, indicating that football fans and their social circles were already in the mood for a spicy, salty, sweet, or savory binge before the Super Bowl’s participants were even wholly decided.

At the same time, as Yahoo! Finance reported, chicken wings have increased in price by 7.2% as grocers attempt to balance demand. Michael Swanson, economist and consultant for Wells Fargo, indicated that consumers would strip the shelves bare if grocers were to introduce sale pricing on chicken wings at this time of peak demand.

“The store is trying to put that price that finds just the right balance between the amount of chicken wings they have and what people are willing to buy for,” he told the outlet.

That’s great news for delivery-centered businesses, according to TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles.

“We like Domino’s. We like Wingstop… It’s a win for the [home delivery] category,” he said.