In the almost 60 years since the first AFL-NFL World Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers, Super Bowl Sunday has grown into an unofficial national holiday, rivaling Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other major official holidays in its shopping and economic effects.
Next Sunday, February 9th, is Super Bowl LVIX—which happens to be the same matchup as SB LVII—pitting the Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles. Though in the case of all Super Bowls, the game is often secondary.
Currently celebrated on the second Sunday in February, the unofficial holiday is now a de facto observation across the land. Yet it is not the game that is typically the biggest attraction. Instead, the food, commercials, various gambling opportunities, and the halftime show are the things that concern a great deal of the "viewing audience."
Whether it’s a casual get-together with friends or a lavish, catered party, approximately two-thirds of Americans "celebrate" the Super Bowl in some way. Even those with little interest in football get in on the craze, if only to watch the commercials.
Understanding this unique opportunity, advertisers spare no expense to showcase their products and services during the Super Bowl. Firms paid up to $7 million for a 30-second advertisement during Super Bowl LVIII in 2024. It’s reported to be about the same for this year.
Agencies work on their advertisements all year, and the Super Bowl has become the unofficial Academy Awards of advertising. There are almost as many websites and television programs dedicated to analyzing the advertisements as there are analyzing the play on the field.
The food and beverage industry also profits from Super Bowl Sunday, a day second only to Thanksgiving in the amount of food that Americans prepare and consume. It is estimated that each American who "watches" the game will spend approximately $142 on food and drinks for the day. Folks will also spend over ten million hours preparing various snacks and beverages.
With a record 203.4 million adults planning to tune in to the game on Sunday, and an estimated average of 17 people attending each Super Bowl Party, these figures suddenly do not become that surprising.
As for the spread at your average party, the king of Super Bowl food now appears to be a battle between the chicken wing and the avocado.
(Pizza still remains a strong contender for the crown.)
More avocados are sold in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl than at any other time of the year. An estimated 12 million pounds of avocados are purchased and—quite often—turned into guacamole for Super Bowl parties. As one of the preeminent "dips" in today's culture, guacamole usually requires chips to eat, thus an estimated 15,000 tons of chips will also be consumed next Sunday.
However, the prices for fresh avocados are up 11.5% from this time last year, even though the cost of prepared guacamole dip is up merely 1.5%. So, time will tell if the avocado is to remain Super Bowl snack royalty.
Likewise, chicken wing prices are up over 7% from last year, but in the case of the wing, its popularity has not only not diminished, it is growing. Americans are expected to consume nearly 1.5 billion chicken wings over the weekend of the Super Bowl, avian flu be danged!
However, in 29 states, including Pennsylvania, home of the Eagles, a new favorite "food" has somehow emerged.
A "less mess alternative" that combines the flavors of spicy Buffalo sauce with a cream cheese-based dip. We're told it is "perfect for sharing." Never fear, though: This modern innovation still goes hand-in-glove with the chicken wing.
Douse your wings in the dip, and Bob's your uncle.
Curious about the Keystone State's No. 2 snack for the game? Peanut butter blossoms. (Whatever the sweet fornicate those are…)
Needless to say, your humble correspondent is appalled at some of the conscious food choices his fellow Americans make.
It should be mentioned, too, that with America on the brink of the 59th iteration of the Super Bowl Sunday party, not one person has yet gone broke underestimating the tastes of the American public.
As for the location, this year's Super Bowl will be contested inside the Louisiana Superdome for the eighth time and it will be the eleventh time the city of New Orleans has hosted.
Interestingly, the people of the Pelican State—unlike the more than half of America who remain partial to the lowest-of-brow gameday "cuisine"—Louisianans are at least serious when it comes to their Super Bowl fare:
All that food needs washing down, so beer and soft drink sales also peak during the days preceding the big game.
It’s not just food and beverage manufacturers who profit. Billions of dollars will be spent party supplies like paper plates, cups and plastic cutlery. According to a prediction from the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend $18.6 billion on food, drinks, apparel, party decorations, and other purchases for next Sunday's game.
Electronics stores also benefit. After all, don't you need that big-screen TV in order to properly appreciate the game?
Even sales of antacids spike on the Monday following Super Bowl Sunday. There’s a good reason for that.
It is all quite an undertaking for the most official unofficial holiday of the year.
Though, perhaps sadly, after the roughly ten million man-hours it takes to carefully prepare everything, the total estimated time that party-goers take to consume all that food is …
Now, if you're worried about all the time it will take to prepare the food for your Super Bowl spread, you can do what I've done for both Thanksgiving and Easter meals and simply order the finest in Texas pit-roasted barbecue from our friends at Southside Market & Barbecue, shipped directly to your front door.
But act fast. Like today fast so you can be assured of delivery before kickoff.
Consider a whole beef brisket. Southside says about its brisket:
Each of our USDA Beef Briskets has been hand-seasoned by our own Pitmaster in the spirit of Central Texas authenticity using only salt and black pepper. Smoked low and slow over real Texas post oak wood for 14 – 16 hours, our Brisket is a tender, flavor-filled Texas BBQ Experience!
Gluten Free. No MSG.
Cooked weight: 6-8 lbs
Briskets are shipped whole, not sliced.
As always,
Brian
P.S. – I'll vouch for everything on Southside's menu that I've tried, which is most of it. And perhaps the most delicious meat snacks on the planet are Southside's "Sausage Slammers." Watch your humble correspondent indulge:
