Consumers plan food-and-drink spending blitz for Super Bowl

Tough economy or not, U.S. consumers aren’t being defensive about spending for food and drink in this year’s Super Bowl get-togethers.

Of 1,044 adults polled, 66% of those who will watch the Super Bowl plan to buy special food and drinks for the big game, according to the latest Advantage Solutions Pulse Survey. Among those consumers, 25% expect to spend $50 or less, 48% plan to spend $51 to $100, 16% aim to spend $101 to $150, and 10% anticipate spending over $150, the Irvine, Calif.-based CPG and retail sales and marketing firm said.

Overall, 54% of respondents plan to watch the game, with 14% undecided. Super Bowl LVII, capping off the 2022-23 National Football League season, is scheduled for Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Advantage’s poll revealed that 50% of Super Bowl party hosts this year plan celebrations of more than 10 guests, and 52% expect to spend more than $100 on food and beverages for the event.

Of Super Bowl party hosts surveyed, 34% expect to spend more on food and beverages this year, with 43% likely to spend about the same. / Image: Advantage Solutions

Thirteen percent of Super Bowl hosts stand to spend $51 to $75, 22% expect to lay out $76 to $100, 13% anticipate spending $101 to $125 and 25% aim to spend more than $150. Just 12% are looking to spend less than $50.

In comparing 2023 and 2022 Super Bowl party expenditures, 34% of those surveyed expect to spend more on their big-game get-togethers this year, with 16% likely to spend “a bit more” and 16% “a lot more,” Advantage reported. Forty-three percent said they’ll spend about the same as last year, while 23% aim to spend less (18% said “a lot less” and 5% said “a bit less”).

What are Super Bowl party hosts planning to serve? Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents cited salty snacks, 70% named pizza, 68% said beer and 60% aim to buy giant subs or prepared sandwiches.

Though Super Bowl party staples are hosts' main focus, prepared foods are high on their shopping lists. / Image: Advantage Solutions

Among prepared foods, hosts are lining up a range of options for Super Bowl guests, including hot side dishes (cited by 53%), such as potato skins and mac & cheese; cold entrees (49%), including deli platters; cold salads and side dishes (49%), such as veggie platters and guacamole dip; and hot entrees (44%), such as pasta and chili.

Other food and drink purchases planned by Super Bowl hosts include desserts (57%), wine (43%) and other alcoholic beverages (38%).

Grocery stores will more than hold their own against restaurants as a destination for ready-made Super Bowl eats, Advantage Solutions’ survey findings show.

Of party hosts and party goers who’ll contribute to the big-game spread, 49% aim to buy prepared foods from a supermarket, compared with 41% from a restaurant. Twenty-one percent cited the local delicatessen for prepared foods, and 20% named a catering service. Almost half (49%) are taking matters into their own hands and will prepare party food themselves, which likely will lead many of them to the grocery store to purchase their ingredients.

For nearly half of Super Bowl party hosts and attendees, supermarkets are the end zone for prepared foods purchases. / Image: Advantage Solutions

Of consumers planning to watch the Super Bowl this year, 22% aim to host a party, 26% expect to go to someone else’s party, and 13% anticipate attending a party at a restaurant or bar.

And partygoers won’t come to their hosts’ premises empty-handed, Advantage noted. Thirty-two percent plan to spend $51 to $75 on food and drink, and 34% expect to lay out $76 to $100. About 8% are likely to spend more than $100, and 26% aim to spend $50 or less.

As with the hosts, salty snacks (60%), pizza (48%) and beer (43%) were the top three items that partygoers said they plan to purchase. Other items they named were hot side dishes (39%), desserts (33%), prepared sandwiches/giant subs (30%), cold entrees (30%), wine (28%), other alcoholic beverages (27%), cold salads/side dishes (25%), hot entrees (20%) and nonalcoholic beverages (18%). Twenty-six percent reported they aim to bring some food and/or drink to the big-game party but aren’t sure yet what to buy.