“Chicken wing prices fall despite sky-high demand for Super Bowl LX” was the headline of a news release from Texas A&M AgriLife that recently showed up in my inbox. In it, an AgriLife Extension expert explained how poultry production and pop culture fuel the game-day favorite.
We didn’t watch the Super Bowl this year. Our reason for not watching had nothing to do with politics, ideology or halftime shows. It was simply the fact that we didn’t have a dog in the hunt and we’re not fans of either of the teams that were competing. Even though we didn’t watch the game, I’m still a little surprised that I didn’t make buffalo hot wings. We love them. Years ago, I didn’t think I liked them, feeling they were too much work for too little reward. That changed, however, when Hubby and I were dating and he made them for me on several occasions, quickly converting me.
Since then, we’ve gone on to enjoy a happy and fruitful marriage filled with too many piles of hot wings to count. We consider ourselves “trained professionals” when it comes to hot wings … and the hotter, the better. We’re also traditionalists. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the myriad flavor profiles of wings available, our go-to is buffalo-style. Always.
In recent decades, chicken wings, which include flats and drumettes, have surged in popularity with demand peaking around major sporting events. But the Super Bowl is the biggest game of all, and more than 1 billion wings are consumed around the event each year, the news release stated.
David Anderson, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Agricultural Economics, said the popularity of wings among sports fans isn’t expected to fade in the future.
“The Super Bowl and wings for snacking have melded pop culture, food and sports in a way that has elevated them from a castaway cut decades ago,” Anderson said. “The Super Bowl has become a sort of cultural holiday, and wings are part of that tradition now – like hot dogs on the Fourth of July.”
The National Chicken Council estimated 1.48 billion chicken wings would be consumed in conjunction with Super Bowl LX. To put that in perspective, if laid end to end, 1.48 billion wings would circle the Earth’s equator more than three times, according to the National Chicken Council release.
The increased popularity for wings has transformed a once-upon-a-time afterthought cut of meat into one of the most sought-after items on menus during sporting events. The demand has also turned them into one of the most valuable poultry cuts by weight.
Wings’ rise in the culinary culture mirrors the evolution of the beef brisket, a previously undervalued cut that surged with the booming popularity of barbecue, Anderson said. And like the brisket, wing production is limited by animal physiology as there are only two flats and two drumettes per chicken.
This year, he said, fans shopping at grocery stores should expect to pay less per pound for wings than previous years. Wholesale prices are $1.12 per pound, up from 99 cents per pound to begin 2026, Anderson said. That’s compared to $1.99 per pound the same week last year and well below the $2.65 per pound in 2024 and $3.80 per pound in 2022. Wings are more popular than ever, but the Super Bowl represents the pinnacle for their demand.
Based on production estimates, Anderson said about 17.5 billion wings will be produced this year. That means around 8.5% of U.S. production was consumed during the Super Bowl.
That’s a lot of wings. We make them at home occasionally and I’m including my recipe here today. However, if you’d rather skip making them and just go out and enjoy some, I’ll recommend our top three favorite places for buffalo hot wings. Our hands-down favorite wings come from The Big E-Z Crawfish & Oyster Bar located at 2707 Sam Houston Ave. in Huntsville. They’re humongous! A close second for us are the wings at Pit Row Pit Stop on the Lake located at 150 Emerald Lane in Onalaska. Our third favorites are those at Wet Deck Bar & Grill located at 5076 FM 350 in Livingston.
If you’re a buffalo hot wing-lover like we are, you really can’t go wrong at any of these three places. Give one – or all – a try!
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil and place a baking rack on it.
Pour 2 bottles of Frank’s hot sauce into a medium size bowl. Add 1½ sticks of melted butter. Stir and set aside.
Coat wings thoroughly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for 30 minutes then turn over and cook for another 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and with tongs dip each wing in the bowl with the sauce mixture and then place back on the baking rack on the sheet pan. Once all the wings have been dipped in the sauce, put them back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.
Repeat the above step and dip wings in sauce again and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
