AgriLife Extension expert explains how poultry production, pop culture fuel the game-day favorite
Fans may notice the price of a football staple – chicken wings – is lower than last year as they prepare for the big game.
In recent decades, chicken wings, which include flats and drumettes, have surged in popularity with demand peaking around major sporting events. But the Super Bowl is the biggest game of all, and more than 1 billion wings are consumed around the event each year.
David Anderson, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Agricultural Economics, Bryan-College Station, said the popularity of wings among sports fans isn’t expected to fade in the future.
“The Super Bowl and wings for snacking have melded pop culture, food and sports in a way that has elevated them from a castaway cut decades ago,” Anderson said. “The Super Bowl has become a sort of cultural holiday, and wings are part of that tradition now – like hot dogs on the Fourth of July.”
The National Chicken Council estimates 1.48 billion chicken wings will be consumed when the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks vie for the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LX.
To put that in perspective, if laid end to end, 1.48 billion wings would circle the Earth’s equator more than three times, according to the National Chicken Council release.
Wing prices lower despite high demand
The increased popularity for wings has transformed a once-upon-a-time afterthought cut of meat into one of the most sought-after items on menus during sporting events. The demand has also turned them into one of the most valuable poultry cuts by weight.
Wings’ rise in the culinary culture mirrors the evolution of the beef brisket, a previously undervalued cut that surged with the booming popularity of barbecue, Anderson said. And like the brisket, wing production is limited by animal physiology as there are only two flats and two drumettes per chicken.
Demand for chicken wings peaks each year around the Super Bowl. This year is no different with 1.48 billion flats and drumettes expected to be consumed during the big game. (Michael Miller, Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife)
This year, he said, fans shopping at grocery stores should expect to pay less per pound for wings than previous years.
Wholesale prices are $1.12 per pound, up from 99 cents per pound to begin 2026, Anderson said. That’s compared to $1.99 per pound the same week last year and well below the $2.65 per pound in 2024 and $3.80 per pound in 2022.
Wings are more popular than ever, but the Super Bowl represents the pinnacle for their demand.
Based on production estimates, Anderson said about 17.5 billion wings will be produced this year. That means around 8.5% of U.S. production will be consumed during the Super Bowl.
“Almost 1.5 billion, that’s a heck of a lot of chicken wings,” he said. “Wings and the Super Bowl, they just go together. This year I am doing my part. I’m making wings for the big game.”
PHOTO: Buffalo wings with mugs of beer. (Adobe Stock │ #332735758 – alex9500)
