Chicken wing champs for Super Bowl: Americans to set consumption record during Sunday's game
Forget pizza and nachos. When it comes to Super Bowl food, chicken wings still reign supreme.
Americans are expected to eat nearly 1.5 billion chicken wings while watching the New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday. That's according to estimates from the National Chicken Council (NCC), a U.S. trade association that represents the chicken industry.
That's about 10 million more wings than last year — cementing wings as the undisputed MVP of Super Bowl snacks, according to the group's annual Chicken Wing Report.
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"Football is for food — especially when it comes to the Super Bowl, where wings rule the roost," NCC spokesperson Tom Super said in a statement.
"For football fans looking to add protein to their spreads at an affordable price, wings are king of Super Bowl menus."
The NCC's numbers are as eye-popping as a plate of extra-crispy drumsticks.
If Americans lined up all the wings they planned to eat during the game, the line would stretch back and forth between Massachusetts and Washington state roughly 27 times.
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The wings would circle the Earth nearly three times, require more than 3,400 fully loaded semitrucks to haul and last until the year 3430 if eaten at the rate of one every 30 seconds, the NCC said.
Fans haven't just been winging it this weekend.
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Over the past four weeks of the NFL playoffs, chicken wing sales jumped nearly 20% nationwide, with spending up more than 11% compared with the same period last year, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research and analytics firm.
Cities tied to playoff teams also saw major spikes.
Wing sales rose more than 26% in the Seattle area and climbed about 17% in the Boston area over the past month.
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Retail prices have helped fuel demand. Fresh chicken wings are averaging $3.47 per pound, down 2.8% year over year, according to Wells Fargo's Super Bowl Food Report.
The drop is tied to a 2.2% increase in domestic chicken production in 2025, driven in part by lower feed costs.
Hosting a Super Bowl party for 10 people is expected to cost about $140, only slightly higher than last year, according to the report.
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Still, wing inventories remain tight.
Fewer wings were sitting in cold storage in November than in any non-pandemic year in more than a decade, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data — a sign that retailers and restaurants stocked up early.
The appeal is simple, according to Chicago-based food trends expert Mike Kostyo, vice president of Menu Matters.
"Chicken is by far the most-consumed protein in America — it's not even close," Kostyo told Fox News Digital.
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Wings are the "snackable" form of America's favorite protein, he said, which makes them perfect for hosting the big game.
"People are grazing and snacking for hours, so you want those easy, snackable foods," Kostyo noted.
Delivery apps, freezer-aisle wing packs and an explosion of sauces have all helped drive demand, Kostyo said. Global flavors are booming, too, with consumers embracing options like Korean barbecue, Thai curry and sriracha blends.
Boneless wings and plant-based alternatives are gaining traction, particularly among younger consumers — though Kostyo noted Super Bowl Sunday is "very rarely about healthy eating."
Classic wings still have no real competition.
"You don't see other similar snackable options with other proteins that have the same crowd-pleasing, neutral flavor profile," he said — whether fans prefer flats or drumsticks dipped in blue cheese or ranch.
Sauces and dips remain key players as well. Instacart data shows sharp pre-game jumps in purchases of Buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, salsa and queso, with chips close behind — proof that bold, shareable flavors continue to define Super Bowl Sunday spreads.