(NEXSTAR) — While Super Bowl LVII is poised to be a historic game, Americans watching the matchup are expected to eat their way to a new record. Experts estimate that 1.45 billion chicken wings will be consumed during Super Bowl weekend.
This is the highest projection on record, according to the National Chicken Council, a trade association that advocates for chicken producers.
The number of chicken wings expected to be consumed this year is 2%, or 88 million wings, more than the estimate last year.
Tom Super, a spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, credits the record-breaking projection to the return of pre-pandemic Super Bowl parties.
“The two main reasons are more favorable prices and more people getting back to normal and gathering for the Big Game, whether at home, a bar, or a restaurant,” Super said in a press release last week.
For perspective, 1.45 billion chicken wings are enough to give every man, woman and child in the U.S. four wings each. It would also be enough to give each person in a sold-out crowd at Phoenix’s State Farm Stadium, which is hosting the Super Bowl, 19,863 wings.
Despite inflation, purchasing chicken wings won’t be as expensive this year because wholesale and retail chicken wing prices have decreased from where they were one year ago, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).