Super Bowl Weekend: Funny Numbers

Super Bowl Sunday is 48 hours away, and while the final score is a subject of great debate – and betting – a lot of other numbers are already known. That’s because the Super Bowl is such a big event, companies pay researchers to find out things like…

Americans to eat 1.25 billion chicken wings Super Bowl weekend

Last week, the National Chicken Council released its 2012 Wing Report. Among its findings: Super Bowl Sunday is “the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving,” and those predicted 1.25 billion chicken wings “laid end-to-end would circle the circumference of the Earth – more than twice.”

Of course, 1.25 billion is a difficult number to grasp. So consider this: The population of the United States is around 307 million. So in a single day, our great nation will consume more than four wings for every man, woman, and child.

Survey reveals Americans’ favorite Super Bowl party snacks

Courtyard by Marriott commissioned a study of “favorite game-day foods” – maybe because the chain is pushing its own Super Bowl parties that it’s hosting in its lobbies. Whatever the reason, here are the results…

Chips and dip top game-day shopping lists – 61 percent of Americans chose the dish as their favorite food to eat on Super Bowl Sunday. Other favorites include pizza (55 percent), nachos (41 percent), subs/sandwiches (38 percent), barbecue (chicken, ribs, etc.) (37 percent), fried finger foods (35 percent) and burgers (32 percent).

But the last line is the saddest and most telling: “28 percent named vegetables or other options.”

Team from city with the lower jobless rate almost always wins

Want to make a bet on the Super Bowl? Pick the New England Patriots over the New York Giants. That’s just a suggestion from RiseSmart – which is not a sports book but an employment agency. Still, the company has done its research.

“The team whose metropolitan area boasts the lower unemployment rate during the previous calendar year has won 17 of the past 20 Super Bowls – a remarkable 85 percent success rate,” RiseSmart reported on Tuesday. It concluded…

Based on this correlation, the New England Patriots should claim the NFL championship over the New York Giants. Through November, the 2011 unemployment rate for the Boston metropolitan area was 6.8 percent, compared to 8.5 percent for the New York metropolitan area.

So there you go. Of course, one of those three exceptions to this rule was in 2008 – when these same Giants upset these same Patriots.

Make some strange bets

ESPN reports that “Super Bowl XLVI is poised to be the most bet-upon game in Super Bowl history,” and more than $10 billion could be at stake – with lots of women betting for the first time.

That means a lot of strange “prop bets.” Proposition wagering is basically betting on anything but the outcome of the game. So, for instance, the Las Vegas Sun Times mentions some of these prop bets that sports books are accepting this year…

• “Player to score first touchdown will have an odd- or even-numbered jersey?”
• “Who will have more: Phil Mickelson 4th-round birdies or Giants punts?”
• “Who will have more: LeBron James points, rebounds and assists or Deion Branch receiving yards?”

But let’s get back to that ESPN story for a moment. Because so many women are betting this year, those prop bets are getting more interesting. Reports ESPN…

Women are especially drawn to the novelty proposition bets, which this year include options such as, “What color hair will Madonna have to start her halftime show?” and “If Tom Brady’s son is shown, will he be wearing a Tom Brady jersey?”

Enjoy the big game.