Business a blazin': Buffalo wing businesses get boost on Super Bowl Sunday

• West Fargo Wing Zone owner Tami Smith

West Fargo Wing Zone owner Tami Smith is ready for the big game and gearing up for the rush of customers on Super Bowl Sunday. David Samson / The Forum
• Jesse Sackman

Jesse Sackman places an order of chicken wings in the fryer at the Wing Zone in West Fargo. David Samson / The Forum

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For Thanksgiving, it’s turkey. For Easter, it’s ham. For the Super Bowl, it’s hot wings – millions and millions of hot wings.

In a savory confluence of product and event, wing restaurants – especially those that deliver – are prepping for a bonanza Sunday (an all-out blitz, for the pun-inclined), when hungry fans and partygoers seek out the football-friendly snack in droves.

“It’s the Christmas of wings,” said Tami Smith, owner of Wing Zone in West Fargo (the more common analogy might be “the Super Bowl of wings,” but for the fact that the actual Super Bowl is involved).

Jesse Sackman, Wing Zone’s general manager, said the restaurant sent 1,300 original wings out the door last year and about as many boneless wings – a huge step up from a typical Sunday volume of 300 or so wings. Indeed, on Super Bowl Sunday, that number might be exceeded in just a few orders. “We get quite a few of the 100-, 200-wing orders,” Sackman said.

Many of those are bound for house parties, a popular Super Bowl tradition. Those parties help make Super Bowl Sunday one of the biggest takeout sales days of the year for Buffalo Wild Wings.

Andrea Leedahl, promotions and marketing manager for the Fargo-Moorhead franchises, said the restaurant offers a Super Bowl special geared toward large orders: 50 traditional wings for $24.99, available on Sunday only.

Nationwide, Leedahl said, Buffalo Wild Wings, which is based in Minneapolis, sold more than 5.5 million wings for the Super Bowl last year.

The wing volume on Sunday will a bit more modest over at Domino’s Pizza – Darl Morkassel, general manger of the West Fargo store, said he expects to sell about 600 wings on Sunday to go along with 3,000 slices of pizza – but the company still counts Super Bowl Sunday among its busiest days of the year.

“Average-wise, it’s about 30 percent more (business) than normal,” Morkassel said. Both Morkassel and Buffalo Wild Wings’ Leedahl said the presence of the Green Bay Packers in the game boosts interest – and business – because the Packers have a regional following.

“There’s plenty of local fans for the Packers,” Leedahl said.

Of course, Morkassel said he’s still waiting for the ultimate boost: a Vikings Super Bowl berth. That hasn’t happened since 1977 – well before hot wings attained the national prominence they enjoy today.

To handle the rush of customers, which is generally busiest before the game, restaurants will bring all hands on deck. “It’s everyone we have, and then some,” said Wing Zone’s Sackman. He said despite the crunch, delivery drivers generally enjoy working Super Bowl Sunday because the tips are good – especially at parties where the “right” team is winning.

To help plan ahead and keep the wings coming, Dominos and Buffalo Wild Wings all allow customers to pre-order for delivery or pick-up at a certain time. Wing Zone even offers a discount to customers who do so. Sackman said delivery times remain surprisingly brisk even as the store gets busy – around 20 to 25 minutes last year, he said.

But Dominos’ Morkassel cautioned that orders for certain peak times might require a bit of patience.

“If everyone wants it at exactly 5 o’clock (kickoff is at 5:30), we only have so many people,” he said.

What makes hot wings a Super Bowl staple? Leedahl said they’re a football favorite in general. “I know that overall throughout the year, wings are popular on football Sundays,” she said.

Morkassel said wings lend themselves well for group snacking because they’re easy to share and easy to pick up and grab. “It’s a hand food,” he said.

Smith, Wing Zone owner, echoed those thoughts. “It’s not the usual snack food. It’s finger food that is a good variety and a good flavor,” she said.

Or to put it in simpler terms, she added: “Everybody likes beer, and everybody likes wings.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Marino Eccher at (701) 241-5502

Tags: super bowl, business, food