Cheese, chicken wings are the name of the game

Americans are projected to buy 88 million pounds of cheese in preparation for the NFL championship football game airing February 3. The stat comes from the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, who said the massive haul of cheese is enough to “cover the Mercedes-Benz Stadium football field, end zone to end zone, 10 yards deep” in a statement. Americans’ obsession with cheese continues to rise with average annual consumption in the United States more than tripling since 1970, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). Cheese sales go up 10% in the lead-up to the game day.

Cheese isn’t the only food experiencing a “Big Game” surge this year—the National Chicken Council predicts that Americans will consume 1.38 billion chicken wings on Sunday. That’s 27 million more than last year and averages out to four wings for every man, woman, and child in the United States.

According to the USDA, the price of chicken wings rises dramatically leading up to the Big Game and falls after the game. From 2013 to 2017, chicken wing prices increased 16 cents/lb from the beginning of January through Sunday. In 2018, prices of wings increased to $1.78/lb by Sunday from $1.68/lb on January 1. The USDA average price for wings this past week was $1.81/lb, and they were at $1.57/lb during the first week of January. Informa Economics IEG anticipates that the price will average $1.83/lb this week.

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin press release