By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

Football fans will once again choose chicken wings as a top food for Sunday’s big game, but they are more expensive this year.

The National Chicken Council (NCC) estimates 1.45 billion chicken wings and drumsticks will be consumed during the game. This is equivalent to 693 wings in every seat of all 30 NFL stadiums, NCC said.

Football fans indulge in the snack year after year. Once an afterthought cut of meat, wings have now turned into one of the most valuable cuts from a chicken.

“Chicken wings are here to stay,” Dr. David Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economist, said. “They were a poultry cut that used to be practically worthless. But once someone created buffalo wings and added some ranch dressing or blue cheese, you had something great. Now they’re so popular that more and more restaurants want to capitalize on their sales. I don’t see that changing.”

However, as demand for wings continues to soar, prices are rising.

Wholesale prices have risen to $1.76 per pound, compared to $1.02 per pound just a year ago. Despite this increase, prices remain below the five-year average, offering some relief to consumers. Retail prices, while still lower than last year, show a similar trend, with whole wings averaging $2.60 per pound.

Roller coaster prices were a direct result of seasonal demand created by Sunday’s big game, along with supply and demand market forces over the past two years, according to Anderson.

“Last year, we had dramatically lower prices, which led production to be scaled back some, and that lower production has now led to some of the price increases we’ve seen,” Anderson said. “It’s a great snapshot of the cause-and-effect from the production side to the consumer side and vice versa.”

Sunday’s game is the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving, and there’s no better love story than eating chicken wings and watching football.

This year’s projection remains steady compared to 2023, with USDA reporting chicken production levels slightly lower and wing stocks in cold storage down 13% in November. This could explain the increased demand and higher wholesale prices on wings. However, fresh chicken wings prices are down about 5% at the retail level, and frozen wing prices are down 11% compared to January 2023, according to Circana data.

“One of these days, Buffalo will get back to the Big Game which would give wing consumption a nice boost,” Tom Super, NCC spokesman, said. “Maybe we’ll see Taylor Swift breaking out the ‘seemingly ranch’ again, to dip a wing in this time, though.”

While there are a variety of wing sauces to choose from, barbecue is the most popular at 52%, followed by ranch at 46% and buffalo/hot sauce at 41%, according to NCC.

Despite the rising prices, as fans prepare to cheer on their favorite teams, one thing is certain, whether you’re rooting for the Chiefs or the 49ers, chicken wings will never go out of style.