Super Bowl LIX: How the Big Game Impacted Protein Commodities

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest food consumption events of the year, driving massive demand for key protein commodities such as chicken wings, beef, and pork. Whether through home gatherings or restaurant promotions, the game day menu fuels significant shifts in supply and pricing. Leading up to the Super Bowl, retailers and foodservice providers anticipate heightened demand, often leading to price fluctuations and supply chain adjustments.

This year, Super Bowl LIX continued the tradition of shaping protein markets, with notable movements in pricing and availability across major categories. In this blog, we analyze how the event influenced the protein sector, highlighting demand trends, pricing shifts, and what these patterns mean for the broader market.

Chicken Wings

Leading up to the Super Bowl, demand for wings was described as unseasonably lackluster. In the four weeks prior to the big day, jumbo whole wing prices did not fluctuate, which is something that has never happened before in recorded history. There have been other years when prices decreased, but they’ve never remained completely flat. At least part of this scenario was attributed to a sluggish pull from retail and foodservice.

The second part of the equation to the flat pricing was production. While demand was unseasonably fair, it was balanced out by issues with harvesting the birds. In the month leading to the Super Bowl, some plants were impacted by external factors such as fire or weather. Additionally, disease continued to take its toll on the industry. Since the start of the year, just over 2.37 million commercial broilers were lost due to HPAI. This accounted for roughly 4.0% of the chickens that were harvested at this time. Another disease that was not federally reported but impacted the supply of birds was avian metapneumovirus. Market input suggested that this disease increased mortality rates and decreased bird weights. Overall, the year-to-date number of chickens harvested was nearly even with last year, but 4.4% below the 5-year average.

As mentioned previously, market input suggested that this year’s call for wings from the retail and foodservice sectors was unseasonably lackluster, though it did pick up very slightly right before the weekend. Some participants suggested that the relative price of wings compared to some other Super Bowl food options such as nuggets, boneless wings, or pizza would limit the call from consumers, especially considering that the consumer price index rose by 0.4% overall in December and 0.3% for food.

As is typical in the immediate aftermath of the game, demand from most large-scale buying channels begins to wane. This year has thus far proven to be no different. At this stage, wholesale values have yet to adjust lower in response, although availability has shifted higher as spot demand slows and production volumes remain somewhat high. When looking at the 10-year average, Expana’s jumbo whole wing quotations typically adjust 7% lower through February due to this retraction in demand.

Beef (Burgers, Steak, etc.)

With the Super Bowl behind us, it’s a good time to assess how key beef items performed leading up to the big game. Chili remains a game-day staple, making coarse ground 81% a key ingredient for tailgates and gatherings. Leading up to the Super Bowl, retail demand surged, pushing coarse ground 81% from $2.96/lb at the start of the year to $3.47/lb by late January, a 17% increase, as shoppers stocked up on ground beef for chili, burgers, and other party foods. This follows a historical trend, where grinds typically see an uptick before the big game, helping to support prices. Grinds across all blends, including 73%, 81%, 93%, as well as chuck, round, and sirloin blends traded at historically high prices for the month of January, largely driven by tighter availability and game day demand. This supply squeeze kept grind prices elevated in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. However, with game-day purchases wrapped up, grind prices have begun to pull back. As demand faded in late January, 73% saw the most significant decline, dropping from its high of $3.08/lb in late January to $2.65/lb just after game day, a roughly 14% decrease as the market adjusted to softer seasonal demand. Meanwhile, 81% eased to $3.35/lb just before kickoff, reflecting a more modest 3% decline. February is historically a slower month for beef demand, as consumer purchasing patterns shift following the Super Bowl. With major sporting events behind us and colder weather lingering in many regions, retail and foodservice activity typically would see a lull before buying interest for grilling season picks up in the spring.

Pork ribs, especially spareribs and back ribs, saw strong promotions across parts of the US for the Super Bowl, keeping prices full steady to start the year. Fresh spot market spareribs have gained traction over the past two years, largely driven by Super Bowl demand and the need to restock cold storage after low frozen stocks from strong Fourth of July sales. At the time of publication medium spareribs are price at $1.58/lb on the wholesale spot market. This contrasts with 2022, when high rib inventories pressured prices into the summer. Post-Super Bowl, sparerib prices have moved down slightly from early February highs. Year-to-date federally inspected hog slaughter in 2025 are 1.1% below this equivalent time last year, tightening pork cut supplies on the conventional market due to sow barn closures from Proposition 12 costs and ongoing disease pressures like (PRRS). Pork remains competitive at retail against poultry and beef due to its price flexibility. On the global side, US pork exports in 2024 rose 4.3% from 2023, with sellers moving more product into emerging international markets, partly due to EU pork production cutbacks, instead of placing material in cold storage. December 2024’s total frozen pork stocks recorded the second-lowest December volume on record.