Written By: SOS International
This weekend, millions of Americans will gather for the Super Bowl, which has become an unofficial holiday for the year’s biggest single game and the second-biggest food-consumption day in the US. Tables are piled with wings, burgers, nachos, pizza, and the obligatory veggie tray as friends and families huddle around the TV to watch the big game. Going all out is a part of the Super Bowl party tradition, making the abundance of food feel limitless.
However, beneath the surface of game-day celebrations lies a significant and sobering reality. For many, Super Bowl Sunday is not about parties or plentiful food; it’s another day of not knowing where their next meal will come from. When we look at this contrast, we see that the Super Bowl offers insight into addressing hunger.
The Numbers at Two Tables
First, let’s look at some of the stats around Super Bowl Sunday:
- 1.48 billion chicken wings will be eaten; that’s enough to give more than four wings each to every man, woman, and child in the United States¹
- Approximately 12.5 million pizzas are ordered and sold on Super Bowl Sunday, according to the American Pizza Community
- The average cost of a Super Bowl commercial now exceeds $8 million. With more than 80 commercials aired last year, that equals roughly $640 million spent on advertising alone²
- Americans are estimated to spend $20.2 billion on food and beverages for the Super Bowl, averaging $94.77 per household³
On the flip side, here are some hunger statistics in the United States and Worldwide:
- 48 Million People face hunger in the US⁴
- 14 million kids, nearly 1 in 5, don’t have consistent access to food⁵
- Globally, 2.8 billion people are affected by food insecurity⁶
Turning Super Bowl Abundance Into Action
The contrast between Super Bowl spending and hunger statistics is difficult to ignore. On the one hand, we see substantial spending on a single day for game-day festivities. On the other hand, we see a sobering reality: how many people are affected by hunger every day.
Contrasting spending and food numbers with hunger isn’t meant to shame the tradition of Super Bowl parties. Spending on food and spending time with friends and family are huge blessings! Examining the contrast between abundance and scarcity is intended to provide perspective and highlight the potential for meaningful impact when caring people come together.
It takes $10 to provide a child with food for an entire month. At that rate, the $640 million spent on Super Bowl ads could feed more than 530,000 children for a whole year. And the $20.2 billion spent on Super Bowl party food could provide a year of meals for approximately 17 million children – that’s enough to feed every food-insecure child in the United States. The 12.5 million pizzas ordered on Super Bowl Sunday, assuming one pizza feeds three people, would be enough to feed over 4 million people.
The Super Bowl weekend spending numbers offer a glimpse of what is possible if we think differently about the power of collective impact. When you consider that the average American household spends $94 on food, that same amount could feed a child for nearly an entire year! Think of the collective impact we can have against hunger!
As you prepare your food for Super Bowl Sunday, consider a couple of practical ways you can make an impact. You can give the gift of food to an at-risk child. As noted above, it costs just $10 to feed a child for a month!
Ending global hunger is bigger than the big game, and together, we can score a bigger win.
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