While Kansas City is known for its barbecue and Philly its cheesesteaks, when it comes to Super Bowl menus, nothing is hotter than wings. The National Chicken Council (NCC) released (Jan. 30, 2025) its annual Chicken Wing Report, projecting Americans to consume 1.47 billion chicken wings watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles battle for the Lombardi Trophy. This figure represents an increase of 1.5 percent from last year’s game, or about 20 million more wings.
“Matthew McConaughey was right: Football is for food,” said NCC spokesperson Tom Super. “Sure, there will be pizza, guacamole, chips and dips, but when it comes to the Super Bowl, chicken wings rule the roost. Although we do anticipate an uptick in chicken cheesesteaks this year.
“If Buffalo, the home of the chicken wing, and their Bills can ever take the next step and make it back to the Big Game, we’d expect an even bigger surge in wings and wet naps.”
So how do 1.47 billion chicken wings stack up? Picture this:
- If every single player in the NFL ate 50 wings a day (and was immortal) it would take them collectively 720 years to eat 1.47 billion.
- 1.47 billion wings laid end to end would stretch to and from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. about 63 times.
- Enough to give more than four wings each to every man, woman and child in the United States.
- Laid end-to-end, 1.47 billion wings would circle the Earth more than 3 times.
We love our Football and our Wings!*
Retail wing sales growth for the NFL Super Bowl representative markets (Philadelphia and Kansas City) increased significantly during the playoffs this year (for the four weeks ending January 19, 2025 versus the prior period.):
- Chiefs fans receiving wings to the tune of a +21.9 percent sales increase.
- Eagles fans did not disappoint their team for wing sales, rushing out and increasing Philadelphia market sales +19 percent.
Wings sales across the U.S. during the playoffs have been strong, gaining +12 percent for the four weeks ending January 19, 2025, versus the prior period. The playoff markets beat the national +12 percent wings increase, scoring sales growth at 15.5 percent for the four weeks ending January 19, 2025, versus the prior period.
Buffalo chicken wing history
Deep-fried chicken wings have long been a staple of Southern cooking. But one well-traveled tale of how the concept of cooking wings in peppery hot sauce was born took place in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when co-owner Teressa Bellissimo cooked leftover wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her son and his friends. The guys liked them so much that the Bellissimos put them on the menu the next day. Served with celery slices and bleu cheese sauce, “Buffalo Wings” were an instant hit.
Dick Winger, who sold hot sauce to the bar, went on the road with Dominic Bellissimo, the owners’ son, to promote the item and sell hot sauce, and the item gradually caught on with restaurant operators around the country. The concept hit the big time in 1990, when McDonald’s began selling Mighty Wings at some of its restaurants. KFC rolled out Hot Wings a year later, and Domino’s Pizza introduced its own wings in 1994. They’ve remained hot ever since. McDonald’s was back in the wing business in 2013, and its Mighty Wings were featured nationwide at most restaurants through the first quarter of 2014.
Chicken wings and football – A love story
The rise of the chicken wing and its correlation to American football all had to do with timing.
Cooking the whole bird was trendy in the 1960s and 1970s, but in the 1980s, U.S. consumers started preferring boneless-skinless breast meat, and wings became an inexpensive byproduct for chicken producers. Restaurants and bars realized they could charge low prices for the relatively inexpensive protein, and due to the spicy/salty nature of the sauce, they discovered that beer sales would go through the roof when customers ate wings.
At the same time, sports bars with multiple TVs and satellite dishes were becoming more and more common in America thanks to rapidly developing technology; and the most popular sporting event to watch with friends in bars is football. Wings were easily shareable and affordable, a great “group food” to eat with other people, and are the perfect pairing with a pitcher of beer. And so the pigskin-chicken wing bond was born.
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*Source: Circana Total US Multi Outlet+ Retail Sales for the four weeks ending January 19, 2025, versus the prior period.
Image credit: National Chicken Council.
Image credit: National Chicken Council.
Image credit: National Chicken Council.
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