That's a Lotta Wings

What You'll Be Eating, Drinking, Sitting on and Wearing This Sunday

Published: February 01, 2013

The Super Bowl isn't only advertisers' greatest moment of excess; many of will be spending a lot of money this Sunday. According to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, for example, the average game watcher will spend $68.54 on new TVs for viewing parties, snacks, decor and athletic apparel, up from $63.87 last year. And total Super Bowl spending is expected to reach nearly $12.3 billion. That made us curious about how much traditional Big Game fare will be getting gobbled on game day and where the rest of this money is going. So we rounded up a few stats. What will you be eating and drinking? Did you buy anything special just for the game? Let us know in the comments.

Chicken wings. No surprise there; they're a sports-watching staple. But according to the National Chicken Council's 2013 Wing Report, you are expected to consume 1.23 billion wings this weekend. That's down about 1% from last year's games. According to a statement from the group: "To put that into perspective, if 1.23 billion wing segments were laid end to end, they would stretch from Candlestick Park in San Francisco to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore ... 27 times." The group added that in a National Poll conducted by Harris Interactive, ranch dressing handily defeated blue cheese as the dressing of choice among wing fans.
That's fine, but it wouldn't be a Super Bowl party without pizza. Pizza Hut said it is prepared to sell some 2 million pizzas and 5 million wings during the Super Bowl.
But at least some of you are balancing those wings and pizzas with health food. According to research by Nielsen, fruits and veggies were among the top five snacks consumers plan to serve and eat during the Super Bowl.
Of course, you'll need something to wash it all down with. Some 42% of consumers are planning on serving beer, according to Nielsen. You may have expected that rate to be higher, but the last three Super Bowls have also seen spikes in sales of tequila, cognac and prepared cocktails too.
Which is probably why it's good that most consumers are planning to stay in this year instead of going out to a bar or restaurant -- 65% say they will watch at home or at a friend's house, Nielsen said.
And you're sprucing up the place just for the game, and buying some new duds. According the Retail and Marketing Association, 3.9 million households will buy new furniture such as entertainment centers, chairs and couches, and 7.5 million will buy decorations. About 17 million fans will buy team apparel or accessories to support their team, up from 14.8 million last year.
Sorry, we don't know how much painkiller sales will be up because of next-day hangovers. We'll put that on the list for next year.