1.23 Billion Chicken Wings Sold During Super Bowl Weekend

The Super Bowl offers fans hours of sports and entertainment, as well as camaraderie and plenty of food. At the top of the Super Bowl food chain are chicken wings, but those yummy, juicy, and—if cooked right—crispy wings are costing football fans more than a few pennies extra this year.

Just a couple of years ago, chicken wings cost Super Bowl watchers just 92 cents a pound. However, last year the prices wildly inflated to roughly $1.70 a pound and this year, the average cost is even higher. According to Bay News 9 this year, a pound of wings will cost the average individual $1.86. In the Northeast, wings can cost as much as $2.11. These numbers are still cheap in the scheme of things, but it means wing specials at bars will be a whole lot more scarce.

Specials may be scarcer, but there are still plenty of wings to be found at Super Bowl parties and on game day menus. The National Chicken Council says 1.23 billion chicken wings have been sold for the big day, and while those numbers are down 1% from last year, you can blame the farmers who dealt with a summer drought and not the consumer population. The big question is not whether wings will be available on most Super Bowl menus. The money question is whether ranch or blue cheese is the predominant dipping sauce.

A poll conducted by the council says 57% of individuals prefer the ranch.