Americans to Eat 1.3 Billion Chicken Wings for Super Bowl 50

Yes, that is 1.3 billion, with a “b.” With the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving upon us – Super Bowl Sunday – there’s no hotter time of year for chicken wings, America’s new favorite party food.

According to the National Chicken Council’s 2016 Wing Report released today, 1.3 billion wings will be eaten next weekend leading up to and during Super Bowl 50, as fans watch the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos battle for the Lombardi Trophy. That figure is up 3%, or 37.5 million wings, from last year’s big game.

It comes as no surprise that chicken wings have become a staple on Super Bowl menus as Americans’ demand for them continues to soar. Wings recently flew to the top of the rankings of The Today Show’s “Super Bowl Snack Bracket,” handing a snack smack-down to nachos, guacamole, salsa, chili and other popular menu items.

Because you’ve never really thought about that many wings…

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, North Carolina 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 (Not including London, of course).

Weighing in at about 162.5 million pounds, 1.3 billion wings weigh 6,325 times more than the combined weights of the Panthers and Broncos entire 52-man rosters.

If one of the three Power Ball winners spent his/her entire lump sum on chicken wings (which we think they should), they could buy about 123 million lbs of wings, or only 76% of the 1.3 billion wings eaten Super Bowl weekend.

1.3 billion wings would stretch 10,468 times from the deepest part of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean to the surface.

“Any way you measure it, that’s a lot of freaking wings,” noted Tom Super, senior vice president of communications at the National Chicken Council.