(NEXSTAR) — When you hear the estimates on how many chicken wings will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, your stomach may start to ache.
Even with rising prices due to inflation, the National Chicken Council expects some 1.42 billion wings to be eaten Sunday while the Los Angeles Rams battle the Cincinnati Bengals.
The NCC reports wing prices are up about $.30 per pound over this time last year. The group says demand, labor shortages and the rising cost of doing business are all to blame.
After fears of a wing shortage this time last year, the NCC says you won’t see that problem in 2022.
“Like almost anything else you buy right now, wings might be a little more expensive, but they’ll be stocked,” said NCC spokesperson Tom Super.
Super added that transitions due to the pandemic have actually boosted wing consumption.
“A shift from sit-down restaurants to takeout and quick service has boosted chicken wing consumption,” Super said in a news release. “Restaurants like wing joints and pizza places were built around takeout and delivery, and as long as people are sitting around watching TV and maybe drinking a beer, wings will remain in the game.”
Here are a few unique stats from the NCC that provide context on that massive figure of 1.42 billion wings:
- It would take 17,108 bitcoins to purchase 1.42 billion wings (as of Jan. 28, one bitcoin is worth $36,418).
- Assuming Molly Schuyler, the world record holder for eating 501 wings in 30 minutes, could keep this pace up, it would take her 162 years to eat 1.42 billion wings.
- If 1.42 billion wings were split between all the TikTok, Instagram and Spotify downloads in 2021, each individual could get 1 wing per download.
- 1.42 billion wings could circle the circumference of Earth three times.
Editor’s note: This corrects a previous version that incorrectly listed the amount of wings that could circle the circumference of Earth.