Americans to eat 1.4 billion chicken wings for Super Bowl LIV

If you're thinking about what to serve for your Super Bowl fête, consider this: Americans are projected to consume a record-breaking 1.4 billion chicken wings as the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami this upcoming weekend. 

In a new report, the National Chicken Council (NCC) said wing consumption for the big game is expected to be up two percent from last year, which means Americans will eat 27 million more wings this year compared with last year. 

To help with the visuals, the council also broke it down to these staggering terms:

  • Every player in the NFL would have to consume 825,000 wings each to reach 1.4 billion chicken wings.
  • 175 million pounds of wings weighs 1,500 times as much as the entire 49ers team and three of their team buses.
  • 1.4 billion wings could circle the circumference of the Earth three times.
  • 1.4 billion wings are enough to give every attendee of every Super Bowl since 1967 each 342 wings.
  • 1.4 billion wings laid end to end would stretch the entire Florida coastline, home of Super Bowl LIV, more than 9 times. 
  • If each of the 1.4 billion wings were counted as one second, they would equal about 45 years.

The NCC's annual Chicken Wing Report also found roughly two thirds of Americans, 65 percent, who eat chicken wings, said they like to do so while watching a major sporting event like the Super Bowl. About half, 51 percent, said that they believe chicken wings should be the official food of the Super Bowl.

The National Chicken Council is a non-profit trade association, representing U.S. companies that produce and process chickens raised for meat.