Barbecue Buffalo Chicken Wings
Cathy Isom has some really surprising statistics about the most popular snack to be consumed by the billions on Super Bowl Sunday. That’s coming up on “This Land of Ours.”
Super Bowl Sunday Chicken Wings
Behind Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday comes in second place for Americans to consume the most food and beverages in one day.
The most popular thing to eat is chicken wings, and this year it’s predicted that fans will eat more than 1.35 BILLION wings, an all time high, according to the National Chicken Council. That figure is up 1.5 percent, or 20 million wings, from last year. It’s enough to put 625 chicken wings in every seat in all 32 stadiums. 1.35 BILLION wings is enough to circle the Earth three times. If wings were dollars, that would buy about two minutes of commercials during the big game.
Seems like a lot, but a National Chicken Council spokesperson insists there will be no challenge meeting the demands of chicken wing lovers. The bigger challenge may be on which dressing or dip fans will choose to dunk those wings.
I’m Cathy Isom…
from the National Chicken Council
Americans to Eat 1.35 Billion Chicken Wings for Super Bowl
Fans flock to bone-in wings, choose ranch as #1 dipping sauce in new nationwide poll
The National Chicken Council released its annual Chicken Wing Report, which projects Americans’ consumption of the unofficial menu staple of Super Bowl Sunday – the chicken wing. NCC’s 2018 report projects that fans will eat 1.35 billion wings during Super Bowl weekend, an all-time high, as the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots battle for the Lombardi Trophy. That figure is up 1.5%, or 20 million wings, from 2017.
“There will be no wing shortage,” said National Chicken Council spokesperson Tom Super. “Whether you’re a fan of the left wing or the right wing, there’s no debate about America’s favorite Super Bowl food. Although we do anticipate an uptick in chicken cheesesteaks.”
To visualize how many wings that is…
- If 1.35 billion wings were laid end to end along Interstate 95, they would stretch from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. almost 250 times.
- That is enough wings to put 625 wings on every seat in all 32 NFL stadiums.
- 1.35 billion wings is enough to circle the Earth three times.
- That’s 394 million feet of chicken wings – enough that a chicken could cross the road 13 million times.
- Americans will eat 20 million more wings this year. If wings were dollars, that would only buy us 2 minutes of commercials during the big game.
Fans choose sides
More than half (59%) of U.S. adults who eat chicken wings say they typically like to eat their wings with ranch dressing, according to a new National Chicken Council poll conducted online in January 2017 by Harris Poll.* The survey asked which dipping sauces or snacks chicken wing eaters typically like to eat with their wings. They could choose more than one option.
Ranch is once again the #1 side or sauce typically eaten with wings and its popularity has been growing steadily, up from 51% in 2014** and 56% in 2015.*** Only one-third (33%) like to eat their wings with blue cheese dressing.
The full rankings are: #1 Ranch (59%), #2 (tie) Buffalo/Hot Sauce (48%), #2 (tie) BBQ Sauce (48%), #4 Honey Mustard (35%), #5 Blue Cheese (33%), #6 Teriyaki Sauce (23%), #7 Sriracha (15%) and Nothing/“I eat them naked” (8%).
Wing eaters flock to bone-in wings
NCC asked wing eaters if they prefer to eat traditional, bone-in wings or boneless wings, and bone-in wings are widening the gap against their boneless cousin. According to the survey, 60% of wing eaters prefer traditional, bone-in wings while 40% chose boneless. In 2015, the spread was 54% vs. 46%, respectively. Boneless wings are typically white, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips, breaded or floured and tossed with Buffalo sauce.
This data parallels with recent research by The NPD Group, which found 64 percent of chicken wings served in restaurants are bone-in. Servings for the bone-in wings rose by 6 percent in 2017, while boneless wings declined at a similar rate.
More information
For the full report and more information on wings, including their history, where Americans get their wings, wing recipes and wing prices, visit the National Chicken Council website.