Study shows food more exciting than Super Bowl game, ads or halftime show

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, 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

1. Buffalo and/or hot wings — 49%
2. Barbecue — 37%
3. 7-layer dip — 36%
4. Pizza — 30%
5. Chicken tenders and/or nuggets — 30%

TOP HEARTBURN-INDUCING GAME DAY FOODS

1. Buffalo and/or hot wings — 37%
2. Buffalo chicken dip — 25%
3. Barbecue — 24%
4. Chili — 23%
5. 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.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.