Super Bowl 2020: Food ideas, best party snacks, how to make easy appetizers for game day

By Mia ZanzucchiFeb 2, 2020, 1:24 PM EST

Whether you’re rooting for the 49ers, the Chiefs or the commercials and the halftime show, everyone can agree that one of the best parts of Super Bowl LIV (this Sunday at 6 p.m. ET) is the food. From the classic staples to wild and inventive alternates, here are some Super Bowl snacks and food recipes to consider for your party.

Wings are a staple of football stadiums, bars, restaurants and Super Bowl parties across the country.

Keep it simple: Give the people what they want with these classic (and spicy) buffalo wings. Don’t forget the ranch.
Step it up: Haven’t given up on your New Year’s resolution yet? Go for these baked chicken wings and save on napkins.
Go all the way: If you’re ready to get saucy, red chimichurri wings–chock full of red peppers, garlic, balsamic vinegar, herbs and more–will give your gathering an extra bit of originality. Plus, red goes with Chiefs fans and 49ers fans.

Nachos are another classic stadium food you can’t go without. It’s one of the most customizable Super Bowl party options, so you can really get creative with it.

Keep it simple: You can’t go wrong with the basics like these quick and easy nachos topped with BBQ pork.
Step it up: Go DIY with a nacho bar filled with the toppings of your choice, like guacamole, salsa, cheese and more. This choose-your-own-adventure food is perfect for the inventive and picky eaters a like.
Go all the way: For anyone ready to show off, this crazy nachos recipe tops already-loaded nachos with chipotle taco meat and homemade guacamole.

Dips, particularly buffalo chicken dip, are Big Cat’s preferred alternate to nachos. Don’t forget to set out the chips, crackers or maybe just giant spoons. For an added touch, put everything in a football dip bowl.

Keep it simple: Ditch the jar of cheese sauce in favor of creamy homemade queso dip.
Step it up: Big Cat’s dip of choice is buffalo chicken dip—especially if you’re skipping the buffalo wings.
Go all the way: Give your guests something to write home about with bacon cheeseburger dip.

Pizza is synonymous with sports and parties. Do it up, keep it simple, a pizza is still pizza.

Keep it simple: Pizza is a universal party food, and nothing says hospitality like homemade pizza. Let your guests get creative with decorate-your-own personal pizzas, or make one pie big enough to feed a small army.
Step it up: Stick with the football theme and use pepperonis to decorate your pizza like a pigskin.
Go all the way: Take things from 2D to 3D with a cheesy pizza football bomb (throwing not recommended) stuffed with goodness.

Chili is kind of messy—but so is football. Give the fans what they really want with the perfect winter food.

Keep it simple: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Stick with a traditional, classic chili.
Step it up: Marry your chili with hotdogs, yet another stadium staple, by making homemade coney dogs. Don’t forget to top with cheese.
Go all the way: Want some carbs to go with your carbs? Go with a dish full of chili mac and cheese.

Sliders are great for the mobile snacker, grazer or distracted sports fan. Slider is just a fancy way to say sandwich, so again, your options are wide open here.

Keep it simple: Pretty self-explanatory: A cheeseburger, but miniature. These bite-sized snacks can be made in one giant casserole dish.
Step it up: Can’t decide between pizza and sliders? Combine them for messy but flavorful pepperoni pizza sliders.
Go all the way: Eat like Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs with a Kansas City-style BBQ pulled pork slider.

Pigs in a blanket might be Big Cat’s lazier alternative to sliders, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less exciting. They’re as good as corn dogs, but classier.

Keep it simple: February is fullblown blanket season. Keep your guests warm with these classic pigs in a blanket.
Step it up: Pinkies up for this cranberry-Dijon dipping sauce specifically engineered for pigs in a blanket.
Go all the way: If you get one cheat day a week, make it Super Bowl Sunday, especially if you go for bacon-wrapped smokies. A bacon blanket is still a blanket, right?

Dessert is a universal crowd-pleaser. You’ve got to balance all of that sodium out with some sugar.

Keep it simple: This chocolate chip cheesecake ball shaped like a football may look complex, but it’s all about presentation. Really, it’s just a cookie dough-like dip in a football-shaped bowl.
Step it up: Dirt cups aren’t just for kids. Make yours Super Bowl-themed with a Milano cookie decorated like a football and turn the dirt cup into a turf cup with green frosting.
Go all the way: Calling frosting experts and playmakers alike: the Hail Mary football field brownie requires some intricate decorating, but yields serious results.

Finally, don’t forget the napkins. Seriously.

When is the Super Bowl and how can I watch it?

Super Bowl LIV is scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 2, but pregame coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX.

Date: Sunday, February 2, 2020
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida
TV Channel: FOX
TV Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Chris Myers and Mike Pereira

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Super Bowl squares 2023: Explanation, how to play, rules and printable template

By Kyle LynchFeb 12, 2023, 12:00 PM EST

Star quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are set to go head-to-head today, Super Bowl Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.

Even if you’re home watching on the couch, you can still get in on the action by filling out your squares, which has become a Super Bowl tradition.

What are Super Bowl squares and what is the format?

A board features 10 rows and 10 columns, adding up to 100 squares total. One of the teams is assigned the rows, while the other team is assigned the columns.

Each person in the pool then chooses one (or multiple) squares, depending on your pool’s rules. In some pools, squares are randomly assigned, while you may choose your own square in other pools.

After all the squares have been filled, numbers between zero and nine are randomly chosen for each row and column.

How do Super Bowl squares work? How do I win?

Each square has a corresponding row and column number. At the end of each quarter, the player whose two numbers match the end digits of each team’s point total will win.

For example, if the score at the end of the first quarter is Chiefs 13, Eagles 7, the player whose box corresponds with “3” for Kansas City and “7” for Philadelphia would win.

Most pools pay out for the final score at the end of each quarter, for a total of four winners (1st quarter, halftime, 3rd quarter, final score). Some pools pay out for every score throughout the game.

Where can I find a template for Super Bowl squares?

NBC Sports has provided a template below, complete with a 10 by 10 grid. Fans can click here to print this template out to use for their Super Bowl squares.

How can I watch and live stream Super Bowl 2023?

When: Sunday, February 12, 2023
Where: State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
TV Channel: FOX
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Marry Your Passion With Your Curiosity: Panelists Discuss Building Your Brand in Leadup to Super Bowl LVII

By Alexis DavisFeb 11, 2023, 12:07 PM EST

Fans in every color jersey of the rainbow internationally will tune into Super Bowl LVIII this Sunday. Ahead of the game, NBCU Academy partnered with PNE Showcase and Arizona State University to bring students and professionals an inside look at the people who color outside the lines for the National Football league.

The three powerhouses co-hosted the Building and Being Your Brand seminar in hopes of helping students and other national professionals identify their brand and the best ways to communicate the pillars of their brand to the masses.

There are just under 4,000 people employed by the NFL, which makes for hundreds of job paths within the league. As the panel began, NFL international marketing and player relations manager Emily Wirtz spoke about how her roots in Germany translated into the role she has now.

The first door opened for Wirtz in the NFL was as a digital video editor and producer. Wirtz transparently admitted she did not feel qualified for the job but with an extra push from her father, she decided to still go after the interview.

“My dad told me that even if I do not land the job, it will at least be good interview practice,” Wirtz said.

RELATED: How to watch Super Bowl 2023

Wirtz still thanks her father to this day. Her video supervisor learned she spoke German and instantly recommended her for a role within the NFL’s global expansion. She would go on to execute the first NFL game in Germany. Germany’s first official exposure to American football at the highest level sold out of millions of tickets in three minutes.

“When we are on the way to these international games in London, Germany and Mexico City, the NFL staff, we’re usually on a big bus or van,” Wirtz said. “In the van it’s about 40 of us and we’re literally trying to find a fan in one of the jerseys of all 32 teams. When we see someone we are like Chargers, Rams or whatever the team is! Every international game I’ve been to, all 5, we’ve been able to spot someone in each jersey.”

By showing up as her authentic self, Wirtz was able to leverage her job. All five of the panelists promoted a “helmet-off” approach to the game. This idea promotes getting to know the stories of the players to help advance the game.

Director of NFL college and club social marketing Sana Merchant-Rupani discussed taking on tasks that require you to grow. Before joining the league, Merchant-Rupani worked in digital marketing at Empire State Realty Trust. In the position, she was tasked with creating an Instagram presence for the company.

Merchant-Rupani had no experience with Instagram when taking on this task but it directly led her into her current role.

“You have to marry your passion with your curiosity,” Merchant-Rupani said.

Senior manager of NFL game operations Karley Berry further emphasized Merchant-Rupani’s message by presenting the contrast. Berry posited that if a job is presented to someone and they check off all the job requirements, then the job is not for them.

The entire audience was initially confused by the statement but as Berry went on, she explained you must take a job that will offer you something new and will leave you with an extra skill you did not have going into the position.

Prior to stepping into the game operations realm, Berry took her first step into the football world when she was a recruiting assistant at Penn State University.

Growing up around Nittany Lion football her entire life, she knew the brand of the university’s football team. While in State College, PA, she challenged the recruitment staff to go after men with outstanding character.

“When we would go on home visits, I would make sure to pay attention,” Berry said. Berry wanted to be intentional with her tactics and believed the best players were those that were good people on and off the field.

Merchant-Rupani, Berry and Wirtz all used elements of their personal brand to succeed in their current spaces to get to their dream work destination. This message was passed on to the audience through painting their journey through experiences.

“We all know about Patrick Mahomes. There are other stories,” senior manager of NFL social marketing Jordan Dolbin said.

RELATED: Chiefs Super Bowl history

Dolbin called on storytellers to push their limits. She wanted to ensure she was challenging audience members to go beneath the surface of the performers with the best stat numbers.

She brought up a story she came across during her Super Bowl preparation that was a “where are they now’ approach to telling the stories of all the players that caught interceptions against Maholmes in high school.

“Now, that is the story I will remember when this is all over,” Dolbin said.

Cincinnati Bengals special teamer Trayveon Williams added his experience to the panel, emphasizing exploring his other interests outside of football. He also commended today’s players for the tenacity in their approach to leaving a legacy outside of football.

The panel agreed collectively their main reason for taking time away from all the Super Bowl work obligations and festivities was to provide the representation they did not see while carving out their career paths.

NBCU Academy will be virtually hosting the Next Level Summit on March 22, 2023.

Author’s Note: Alexis Davis is currently in her last semesters in Walter Cronkite’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. She received her bachelor’s from North Carolina A&T State University in multimedia journalism in May 2022. Davis is a featured writer for the MEAC conference. Davis also switches between play-by-play announcer, analyst and sideline reporter for the PAC-12 conference’s app. She also hosts a podcast focusing on international basketball players and their fashion experiences called What’s in Your Bag?