Food more exciting than Super Bowl game, ads or halftime show

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Less than half of Americans care which team wins the big game, new research suggests.

According to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults over the age of 21, less than half actually care about which football team comes out on top in February (48%).

Results found that one in four respondents are more interested in the food than the game, and 54% believe that the food spread has the power to make or break the entire experience.

Food also proved to be more exciting than the commercials (38%) or the halftime show (47%).

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of TUMS (https://www.tums.com), the survey aimed to uncover the best foods across a variety of categories to pair with football.

The top three foods necessary to have around for a successful big game watch party are buffalo and/or hot wings (49%), barbecue (37%) and seven-layer dip (36%).

Six in 10 respondents will be hosting or attending a game day party, and if they were hosting, more than half would plan out the menu of what they’d serve guests at least a month in advance.

According to the survey, this menu would also mix sweet and savory snacks, as those ranked high on the list of necessary snacks — including nachos (30%), cookies (25%) and potato chips (24%).

Looking at the brackets of the “best of” different kinds of food for watching the big game, respondents shared their top picks for the spicy category: wings are king in this category yet again (50%), followed by jalapeno poppers (29%) and chili (24%).

All categories considered, the top “drafts” for the perfect plate of food to watch the game starts with barbecue (34%), accompanied by wings (33%), seven-layer dip (24%) and brownies (22%).

Chicken tenders or nuggets (22%), nachos (21%) and pizza (20%) also made the top 10 foods people would want on their plate.

However, big game watchers shared that their favorites often come with a price: consistent snacking during football games also comes with uncomfortable symptoms including having heartburn (22%), indigestion (16%) and upset stomach associated with those symptoms (17%).

Spicy foods like buffalo wings (37%), buffalo chicken dip (25%), barbecue (24%), chili (23%) and jalapeno poppers (22%) are some of the top foods that contribute to it.

And while 43% would avoid eating these foods, knowing these potential effects, a similar percentage would still eat them (44%).

In fact, nearly one in four experience occasional heartburn from gameday foods they eat while watching the big game and nearly a third hope their big game party host to have antacids on hand, while another one in four keep them on-hand themselves.

Even so, tasty snacks aren’t the only thing giving respondents a tough time during the big game: one in seven admit they get heartburn from their team’s poor performance, and a similar percentage said the same for when they have to go to the bathroom during an important moment in the game (17%).

NECESSARY FOODS FOR THE BIG GAME

Buffalo and/or hot wings — 49%
Barbecue — 37%
7-layer dip — 36%
Pizza — 30%
Chicken tenders and/or nuggets — 30%

TOP HEARTBURN-INDUCING GAME DAY FOODS

Buffalo and/or hot wings — 37%
Buffalo chicken dip — 25%
Barbecue — 24%
Chili — 23%
Jalapeno poppers — 22%

Survey methodology

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans aged 21-43; the survey was commissioned by TUMS and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Dec. 5 and Dec. 10, 2024.

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