Super Bowl Parties Are Going to Cost A Lot More This Year Thanks to Inflation

By Vance Cariaga

February 11, 2022

mphillips007 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

If you’re planning a Super Bowl party on Sunday, get ready for the spending equivalent of being sacked for a 15-yard loss. Thanks to the highest inflation in 40 years, prices are up for all game-day staples, from chicken wings and hot dogs to guacamole, salsa, soda and beer.

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U.S. consumers are expected to spend a total of $14.6 billion on food, drinks, apparel, decorations and other items this Super Sunday, USA Today reported citing data from the National Retail Federation. That’s up from $13.9 billion in 2021.

The average dollar amount per person in 2022 should come in slightly lower than the record of $88.65 per person set in 2020 when total spending hit $17.2 billion. That was the year, you’ll recall, that the Super Bowl was held just before the COVID-19 pandemic began its rapid spread around the world.

Wells Fargo analysts estimate that the cost of a Super Bowl spread could be 8% to 14% higher this year than in 2021, NewsNation reported. That even outpaces inflation, which in January surged 7.5% from a year earlier, according to the Consumer Price Index — the biggest increase since February 1982.

Of course, your own costs will depend on what you plan to buy. But if you’re like most Super Bowl party hosts, you’ll probably have some combination of chicken wings, hot dogs, guacamole, chips, salsa, burgers, soda and beer.

Here’s a rundown on what you can expect to pay this year:

Wings

The cost of chicken parts rose 11.6% in January, according to the CPI’s latest report. As for the wings themselves: A report from the USDA that tracked advertised chicken prices at major supermarket outlets between Feb. 4 and Feb. 10 found this: The average price of whole wings promoted at 392 stores in 2022 was $2.98 a pound, up from $2.82 a pound at 789 stores in 2021. In some parts of the country, wings have risen as much as 26% year over year.

Hot Dogs

In late 2021 CNN Business reported that two of the nation’s leading hot dog producers — Tyson and Kraft Heinz — planned to increase prices in 2022. Tyson sent a letter to at least two regional distributors saying that prices on Ball Park hot dogs and other items would increase 5% to 10.2% for all retail customers beginning in January 2022. Kraft Heinz said it would raise prices by about 8% on Oscar Mayer beef, lean beef and Angus hot dogs, as well as cheese dogs.

Guacamole

If you’re a fan of guacamole, you’ve no doubt heard about rising prices for avocados, the key ingredient. In early February the average price of a Hass avocado at 5,505 stores was $1.24, according to the USDA. That’s well up from an average of 78 cents at nearly 20,000 stores last year. Wholesale avocado prices are also more expensive. A 9-kilogram box of Hass avocados from Mexico recently averaged $26.23, Bloomberg reported, which was the highest price for this time of year in two decades.

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Chips and Dip

Here’s something that hasn’t moved much in price over the last year. Potato chips are only about 1% more expensive this year than in 2021, NewsNation reported. But other types of chips — along with dips and vegetables — are up anywhere from 2% to 5%.

Salsa

Like guacamole, the main ingredient in salsa – tomatoes – has seen prices skyrocket of late. In some markets, such as Charlotte, North Carolina, the price of tomatoes has risen to nearly $5 a pound, ABC News recently reported. That compares to a nationwide average of $1.91 a pound during much of 2021, according to Statista.

Burgers

If your Super Bowl party includes grilling burgers, expect to pay a lot more this year than last year. The average retail price of ground beef in the U.S. was $4.60 a pound as of December 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s up more than 16% from the previous year. In some markets, ground beef has risen even higher in 2022.

Soda

Here is another Super Bowl party staple that has risen in double digits this year. The average price for a 2-liter bottle of sodas is up 12% in 2022 vs. 2021, according to NewsNation. You might be better off buying 12-packs instead, which have risen an average of only 6%.

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Beer

America’s favorite Super Bowl imbibement has not risen nearly as much as other game-day staples. The Beer Institute, a national trade association, recently noted that beer prices have remained low “even during a historic period of inflation,” USA Today reported. According to the latest CPI report, the prices of beer, ale and other malt beverages consumed at home are up only 1.8% over the past year.

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About the Author

Vance Cariaga

Vance Cariaga is a London-based writer, editor and journalist who previously held staff positions at Investor’s Business Daily, The Charlotte Business Journal and The Charlotte Observer. His work also appeared in Charlotte Magazine, Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Business North Carolina magazine. He holds a B.A. in English from Appalachian State University and studied journalism at the University of South Carolina. His reporting earned awards from the North Carolina Press Association, the Green Eyeshade Awards and AlterNet. In addition to journalism, he has worked in banking, accounting and restaurant management. A native of North Carolina who also writes fiction, Vance’s short story, “Saint Christopher,” placed second in the 2019 Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition. Two of his short stories appear in With One Eye on the Cows, an anthology published by Ad Hoc Fiction in 2019. His debut novel, Voodoo Hideaway, was published in 2021 by Atmosphere Press.