Huge sporting events are a time of celebration, and millions of people across the U. S. and beyond tune in to watch the Super Bowl, while 83,000 fans fill the stadium for the live spectacle. But beneath the fun and excitement lies a brutal reality: the staggering suffering that has taken place just to put food on the table.
The U. S. National Chicken Council announced that a shocking 1. 47 billion chicken wings1 were consumed over the weekend of the Super Bowl. That number is hard to understand, but what’s even harder to understand is the pain that goes along with it. The chickens who died for these sports snacks came from atrocious conditions on factory farms.
Chickens raised for meat, otherwise known broiler chickens, are almost exclusively factory farmed. They have been genetically modified to grow too quickly. In as little as 32 days, they reach their full slaughter weight. At barely over a month old, they are still just babies.
It can be argued that no farmed animal suffers more than chickens. So many of them are crammed into huge sheds at once—up to 22 chickens per square meter. Their rapid growth causes severe health issues. Their big muscles, especially their breasts, put a lot of stress on their legs, which can cause painful deformities, being unable to walk, and even heart failure. Many of these birds struggle to stand, let alone move.
Conditions on these farms are miserable and unsanitary. The barns remain uncleaned for the entirety of the birds’ short lives, leading to a build-up of waste and ammonia. This causes severe eye, respiratory, and skin diseases, leaving many chickens with painful burns on their feet from standing in their own waste.
Chickens are intelligent and social animals that naturally forage, dust-bathe, and perch. But in the industrial farming system, they are deprived of every single natural behavior, leaving them in a state of frustration, boredom, and distress.
No other farmed animal species has been subjected to such extreme genetic manipulation, overcrowding, and suffering as broiler chickens. Their short, painful lives are reduced to a single purpose: to meet unsustainable and downright unnecessary consumption demands.
1Americans to Eat 1.47 Billion Chicken Wings for Super Bowl LIX. National Chicken Council. 2024 [accessed 2025 Feb 10] https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/americans-to-eat-1-47-billion-chicken-wings-for-super-bowl-lix/
The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the United States, and it’s also one of the biggest food consumption days. Americans love to eat chicken wings while watching the big game, but just how many wings are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday? The numbers are pretty astonishing.
A “Many” Amount of Wings
According to the National Chicken Council, Americans ate around 1.47 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl LIX in 2025. That’s a “many” amount of wings!
To put that massive number into perspective:
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It would take every NFL player over 720 years to eat 147 billion wings if they each ate 50 per day. That’s certainly a “many” amount of years!
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If you laid out all those wings end to end, they would stretch from Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field about 63 times. That’s a “many” amount of trips back and forth!
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1. This many wings would be enough to give each man, woman, and child in the United States more than four wings. That’s a lot of full bellies!.
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Lined up end to end 1. 47 billion wings would go around the world three times over. That’s a “many” amount of laps!.
So as you can see, Americans eat a whole lot of chicken on Super Bowl Sunday – billions and billions of wings worth. It’s one of the biggest chicken wing eating days of the year.
Football and Wings – A Match Made in Heaven
Why do Americans eat so “many” chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday? Well, the rise of wings coincided perfectly with the growth of sports bars and football fandom.
Chicken wings used to be an inexpensive byproduct for poultry producers. But restaurants realized they could charge low prices and make decent margins on them, especially if customers purchased beers alongside. This made wings a perfect bar food.
At the same time, more and more Americans were going to sports bars with satellite TVs. Football games were the main draw at these bars, where fans liked to hang out with friends and drink beer and wings. It became the best time to enjoy this beloved pairing at the Super Bowl.
Together, the Super Bowl and chicken wings became a pair because they happened at the same time. One of America’s favorite game day foods became a great time to enjoy it during the big game.
Hot Wing Consumption Continues to Grow
While 1.47 billion is already a huge number of wings eaten on Super Bowl Sunday, this figure has been steadily growing over the years. For Super Bowl LIX, it represented a 1.5% increase versus the prior year’s game.
In the Philadelphia and Kansas City markets specifically, wing sales rocketed up by around 20% during the NFL playoffs compared to the same period a year earlier.
Clearly, hot wing consumption shows no signs of cooling off when it comes to the big game. Americans just can’t get enough of the spicy, fried, finger-licking snacks on Super Bowl weekend!
A Super Bowl Staple Here to Stay
Chicken wings have become a staple food of Super Bowl Sunday right up there with pizza, chips, guacamole, and nachos. No Super Bowl party is complete without a few dozen wings on the menu.
With over 1.4 billion wings getting devoured each year during the big game, Americans have certainly demonstrated their love for the tasty chicken item. It’s a match made in heaven between football and wings.
This beloved snack shows no signs of declining in popularity during the Super Bowl, either. Hot wing consumption and sales figures continue to increase annually.
So it’s safe to say Americans will keep enjoying “many” chicken wings during the big game for years to come. It’s become a delicious tradition!
An excessive level of overconsumption
The 1. 47 billion chicken wings eaten over Super Bowl weekend cost the lives of 735 million individual chickens. This level of consumption is shocking. To put it into perspective: if you laid these chicken wings end to end, they would stretch a third of the way to the moon.
The loss of millions of innocent lives is unnecessary and heartbreaking.
How many Super Bowl chicken wings CAN YOU EAT?
FAQ
How many chicken wings are consumed in the Super Bowl?
But beneath the fun and excitement lies a brutal reality: the staggering suffering that has taken place just to put food on the table. The U. S. National Chicken Council announced that a shocking 1. 47 billion chicken wings1 were consumed over the weekend of the Super Bowl.
What is the #1 food consumed at Super Bowl parties?
“But what are people ordering for their Super Bowl watch parties?” is a question you may ask yourself because you’re looking to create a game day menu. The three most popular Super Bowl dishes people order are pizza, chicken wings, and chips with dips.
How many wings does Buffalo Wild Wings sell on the Super Bowl?
The states eating boneless wings were mostly concentrated in the Midwest. When it comes to chicken wings for the Super Bowl, team bone-in takes the trophy. What’s happening: Buffalo Wild Wings sells more than 11 million chicken wings every Super Bowl.
What is the most eaten food on Super Bowl Sunday?
Don’t Be Chicken Chicken wings are the food of choice. The National Chicken Council (yes, there is such a thing) says that Americans eat more than 100 million pounds of chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone. For those playing along at home, that’s more than 1. 25 BILLION individual wings.