United States

Department of 

Agriculture

Agricultural

Marketing

Service

Livestock

and Poultry 

Program

Agricultural

Analytics

Division

Feature Advertising by U.S. Supermarkets

Meat and Poultry

The NFL-AFL World Championship Game 2020

Advertised Prices effective through February 02, 2020
U.S. Supermarket Holiday Featuring of Meat and Poultry (February 2020)

USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, L&P, Agricultural Analytics Division 2

Feature Advertising by U.S. Supermarkets During Key Seasonal Marketing Events 

This report provides a detailed breakdown of supermarket featuring of the most popular meat and poultry products 

for the annual NFL-AFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl) marketing period. Super Bowl Sunday is the 

second largest food consumption day on the calendar after Thanksgiving and marks a significant demand period for 

a variety of meat and poultry items popular as finger foods. Advertised sale prices are shown by state and region.

Team Chicken

8 Piece Mixed..............................white (breast, wing) and dark (drumstick, thigh) young chicken pieces that have either been 

breaded/battered or coated in sauce/spices before being fried in oil, oven-baked, or 

barbecued/grilled.

8 Piece Dark................................dark (drumstick, thigh) young chicken pieces that have been breaded/battered and then 

fried in oil. 

Fried/Baked Mixed Packs ..........white (breast, wing) and dark (drumstick, thigh) young chicken pieces that have been 

breaded/battered before being fried in oil or oven-baked available in packs of multiple 

pieces (party packs). Bulk packs in excess of 100 pieces are reported on a dollars per 

piece basis.

Deli Wings...................................young chicken wings that have been breaded/battered then fried in oil or oven-baked. 

Sauce is normally applied following the cooking process. Bone-in wings usually consist of 

the combined drumette and flat portions of a whole chicken wing with the tip removed (v-cut) 

or of the individual drumette and flat portions. Boneless wings are commonly produced from 

chunks of breast meat and are cooked in similar fashion.

Tenders .......................................the tender muscle portion of a young chicken breast that have been breaded/battered 

before being fried in oil or baked. Also known as strips or fingers.

Rotisserie....................................a whole (without giblets) young chicken skewered on a spit and roasted in an oven. The 

most popular size for a rotisserie chicken is 2 pounds with birds up to 3 pounds also 

available.

Fresh Wings................................whole (drumette, flat, and tip) or cut fresh young chicken wings available in a range of sizes. 

IQF Wings ...................................individually quick frozen raw whole or cut young chicken wings normally sold by the bag. 

IQF Party Wings .........................individually quick frozen raw whole or cut flavored young chicken wings normally sold by the 

bag. 

IQF Tenders ................................individually quick frozen raw young chicken tenders normally sold by the bag. 

Cooked/Frozen Chicken ............pre-cooked young chicken whole muscle, bone-in or boneless wings or tenders/strips 

flavored or unflavored normally sold by the bag.

Chicken Party Platters ...............store-prepared cooked young chicken wings or tenders sold in platter or pan serving units. 

Units vary by seller but generally are available in small, medium, and large sizes each with 

an estimated number of servings. 

Team Pork

Spareribs ....................................the lower portion (belly) of the rib cage between the back rib and the sternum including at 

least 11 ribs.

Backribs......................................the upper portion of the rib cage between the back rib and the sternum including at least 8 

ribs. Also known as baby back ribs. 

St. Louis......................................the spare rib minus the sternum and lower cartilages, ending in a rectangular shape.

Country Ribs...............................most commonly cut from the blade end of the pork loin near the shoulder. Include 3-6 ribs 

cut into equal portions and may be bone-in or boneless.

Riblets .........................................the sternum and lower cartilages resulting in the preparation of a St. Louis-style rib. Also 

marketed as rib tips.

Deli Ribs......................................store-prepared cooked pork ribs sold by the pound or by the whole or half slab.

Pre-Cooked, Flavored Ribs .......pre-cooked and flavored pork backribs in sealed pouch. 

Pork Rib Platters ........................store-prepared cooked pork ribs sold in platter or pan serving units. Units vary by seller but 

generally are available in small, medium, and large sizes each with an estimated number of 

servings. 
U.S. Supermarket Holiday Featuring of Meat and Poultry (February 2020)

USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, L&P, Agricultural Analytics Division 3

Game Highlights

On February 2, 2020, the 54th annual NFL-AFL World Championship game (aka. “Super Bowl LIV”) will be played at Hard Rock 

Stadium in Miami, Florida, between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American 

Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs. The game not only marks the annual crowning of an ultimate football 

champion, it also marks what has come to be the most significant non-holiday eating event on the calendar. From its inception, 

the Big Game has served as the perfect opportunity for fans, and non-fans alike, to gather, some to enjoy the game, others the 

commercials or half-time show, and all the delicious food. While the winners of the game are not known at the time of this printing,

the ultimate winners are the millions of food fans. 

Traditionally, Championship Sunday takes place in front of the television. In fact, some of the best annual deals on new TV’s can 

be found in January targeting the Big Game. However, television viewership has declined steadily from the high set in 2015 as 

other venues increase in popularity, particularly digital viewership through computers and set-top boxes, estimated at 2.6 million 

in 2019. Regardless, the majority of fans will view the Big Game in front of their television sets where finger food rules the menu. 

Chicken wings have been the perennial fan favorite - perfectly sized, versatile to prepare, relatively low cost, and widely available. 

This year is no different with chicken, with an estimated 4% increase in production over last year, being offered in a variety of forms

and leading all competitive meat proteins. This year, USDA estimates that a record 1.8 billion chicken wings will be eaten by fans 

during the big game. But chicken’s dominance is increasingly being eroded by a host of rivals, primarily the pork rib, also a perfect 

finger food that is inexpensive and widely available with an estimate 5% increase in first quarter pork production in the U.S. over 

last year.

This year, the game spans the nation with the Forty-Niners representing the west, the Chiefs the heartland, and the game being 

played on the east coast. The Northeast, home to the invention of the buffalo wing at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, in 1964, is no 

stranger to the Big Game and to gameday gathering but are without a hometown favorite for the first time in four years. Fans in

the west were represented by southern California last year but northern California leads the charge this year. But the big story this 

year might well be the Kansas City Chiefs who return to the big game since their victory 50 years ago against the Vikings and 

whose fans are long overdue for a celebration. 

Chicken remains the perennial fan favorite as a game-viewing staple but its dominance is being diluted by a dizzying array of 

competitors. Pork ribs have been increasing in popularity in recent years but, with the introduction of pre-cooked, flavored, and 

easy-to heat offerings, their popularity has exploded. Another growing trend in pork is offerings of boneless, barbeque-flavored 

pulled and shredded pork, perfect on a bun and easily held in one hand leaving the other hand free for a “beverage”. When not 

competing with each other, chicken and pork face a host of rivals for consumer demand for the Super Bowl. Across the nation, 

ground beef for making pots of chili are a popular offering and pre-cooked packaged meatballs are enjoying their own growing 

fan following. In the Southeast, chicken and pork share the TV tray with catfish strips and nuggets while shrimp is a popular option 

in the Northeast. The Northwest likes their seafood and, in the South Central, its game on as beef ribs play a key role in satisfying 

fan demand. The Southwest likes their fresh pork butts and picnics to make pozole. And, alas, competition is not limited to meat 

proteins as the popularity of pizza and related snack foods continues to erode more traditional meat options. 

As in recent years, wing sauce aficionados in the Southeast lead the nation in preference for fresh chicken wings, continuing to 

solidify their lead over the traditional fresh wing stronghold in the Northeast. On a per capita basis, the Southeast leads the nation 

in fresh wing offerings with 20% of promotions. But when it comes to IQF chicken offerings, southeastern fans share their 

preference with their midwestern brethren – both with just over 20% of marketings. Fans in the Pacific Northwest lead the nation 

with their love of pre-cooked and flavored frozen wings with 29% of national marketings this year on a per capita basis. Precooked chicken wings in the frozen meat case continue to grow in popularity, available in a variety of forms and flavors and 

requiring only to be dumped from the box or bag and heated in the oven. Clearly, convenience is a growing trend that is changing 

chicken consumption and Big Game viewing habits, something the hectic pace of the Northeast fully appreciates. And speaking 

of convenience, wing platters are big in the Southeast, accounting for 34% of retail offerings while that part of the country also 

loves their rotisserie chickens with a 23% per capita share. Fans in the southwest love convenience too but their preference is for 

deli-prepared wings (20%). Fried/baked chicken is a perennial favorite across the country but the Northwest leads the nation on 

a per capita basis in preference this year with 27% of promotions. This year, offerings are seeing a slight decline but at lower ad 

pricing than in recent years. 

When it comes to pork offerings at retail, the Southeast leads in overall pork preference for gameday with a 21% per capita 

marketing share but fans in other parts of the country support their own favorites with the Northwest loving their St. Louis and 

country ribs (25% and 30%) and the Southwest their spare ribs and back ribs (29% and 21%). The Northwest loves pre-cooked 

ribs (28%), just edging out the northeast (25%). Fans in the south love their deli ribs (45%) and bratwurst is popular in all regions, 

particularly in the Northeast with 24% of features on a per capita basis. Interestingly, priced offerings of bratwurst are down in 

frequency this year as retailers increasingly look to the old reliable BOGO to satiate fan demand. 
U.S. Supermarket Holiday Featuring of Meat and Poultry (February 2020)

USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, L&P, Agricultural Analytics Division 4

Report Notes and Key to Abbreviations:

All information is collected from a survey of publicly available, on-line supermarket advertising circulars during the holiday 

marketing period. All prices are in U.S. dollars per pound unless otherwise noted. 

U.S. Regional Definitions:

Northeast ............CT,DC,DE,MA,MD,ME,NH,NJ,NY,PA,RI,VT

Southeast............AL,FL,GA,KY,MS,NC,SC,TN,VA,WV

Midwest...............IA,IL,IN,MI,MN,ND,NE,OH,SD,WI

South Central......AR,AZ,CO,KS,LA,MO,NM,OK,TX,UT

Southwest...........CA, HI, NV

Northwest............AK,ID,MT,OR,WA,WY

Explanatory Notes:

Feature Rate: the percentage of surveyed stores advertising any reported item during the covered period, expressed as a 

percentage of the total state and regional survey.

Activity Rate: the sum of the number of stores in each state/region advertising each reported item. The more reported items 

a supermarket features, the greater its contribution to overall activity. 

Activity Ratio: the overall number of advertised items offered relative to the report survey size (32,700 stores in 2020). 

(activity rate/overall sample). 

Stores: the number of stores featuring each reported item based on the current state-by-state store count for each surveyed

supermarket chain. 

Stores Associating Chicken/Pork: reflects the percentage of surveyed stores tying their chicken and/or pork item feature 

to the game of football. 

The NFL-AFL World Championship Game 2020 (Super Bowl LIV) was played on February 2, 2020 in the Hard Rock Stadium in 

MIami, Florida, between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs and the National Football 

Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the 

USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, 

disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal 

or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all 

programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.