WASHINGTON – The NFL’s biggest game of the year is Feb. 7. Watch parties by the thousands are being planned and the food spread is almost as important as the point spread. The featured food at many Super Bowl parties, as usual, will be chicken wings.
According to the National Chicken Council (NCC), Americans will consume 1.3 billion wings this Sunday when the Carolina Panthers play the Denver Broncos. That figure is up three percent, or 37.5 million wings, from last year’s game.
To put that in perspective:
• 1.3 billion chicken wings is enough for every man, woman and child in the United States to have four wings each.
• If 1.3 billion wings were laid end to end, they would stretch from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC to Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver almost 53 times.
• That is enough wings to put more than 600 on every seat in all 32 NFL stadiums.
Any way you slice it, dip it or grill it, Americans love their wings and the Super Bowl shows that.
CHD Expert, the Chicago-based foodservice data and analytics firm, pointed out that the top five chicken wings chains in the United States in terms of numbers of units and market share are Wingstop (44 percent), Pizza Hut’s WingStreet (25 percent), Hurricane Grill & Wings (6 percent), Wow Café & Wingery (4 percent), and Wing Zone (4 percent). As for Buffalo Wild Wings, their 1,100-plus full-service restaurants with a full bar, are classified as a Bar & Grills, however be assured there are plenty of wings on the menu.
