More than 100 million Americans watch the Super Bowl every February. And more often than not, they do it while attending a Superbowl party.
Are you thinking about hosting a party for the Super Bowl at your home? If so, you should know that the people who come are going to expect you to do more than just stick a bowl of chips on your coffee table and turn the TV on.
There are so many different things that you’ll have to buy to make your party for the Super Bowl a success. From football-themed decorations and tasty food to plenty of seating and, of course, delicious beer, you’ll need a little bit of everything to keep your guests happy.
It can be difficult trying to figure out where you need to start. Here is a helpful guide that will show you how to host the perfect Superbowl party.
Send Out Superbowl Party Invitations
Before you start planning out the specifics for your party, you should take some time to let people know that you’re hosting a party in the first place. The simplest way to do this is by creating invitations for your party about a week or two prior to the Super Bowl.
Most people don’t start thinking about their Super Bowl plans until after the NFL’s NFC and AFC Championship Games have been played. Those games take place two weeks before the Super Bowl, so try to get your invitations in the mail (or email!) a day or so after the games are over.
By sending out invitations for your Superbowl party in advance to your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and more, you’ll be able to gauge interest in it and estimate how many people will show up. This will go a long way when it comes to putting firm plans into place for the party.
Decorate Your Home for Your Party
A few days before your party is set to take place, take a trip to your local party supply store to snatch up decorations for it. For about $20, you can buy all kinds of Super Bowl decorations, including:
- Banners
- Streamers
- Balloons
- Tablecloths
- And more!
You can also buy posters featuring some of the players that will be playing in the Super Bowl along with decorations featuring the colors of the teams that will be participating in the big game.
These small touches will put your decorations over the top and get people in the mood to party from the moment they walk through your front door on Super Bowl Sunday.
Set Up Lots of Seating
If you’re only going to be having 10 or 12 people over to your house for the Super Bowl, you don’t have to worry too much about setting up tons of extra seating in your living room space. People will be able to stretch out on your couch and chairs.
But if you’re going to be hosting 20, 30, 40, or even 50 people at your party, that’s going to be a much different story! You’ll need to find ways to provide everyone with the proper seating.
If you have folding chairs in your basement, garage, or shed, now will be the time to pull them out and arrange them throughout your home to give everyone somewhere to sit. You might even want to consider renting folding chairs if you suspect that you might not have enough of them.
The last thing you want is for your guests to have to sit on the floor while they watch the Super Bowl. So don’t forget to take seating into consideration when you’re planning out your party.
Cook Finger Foods for the Festivities
For a lot of people, Super Bowl Sunday is an excuse to throw their normal diets out the window and consume as much food as they can. Studies have shown that the average American takes in almost 2,500 calories in a matter of just a few hours while watching the Super Bowl.
This means that people will be ready to eat when they show up at your home for the Super Bowl. It’s your job to provide them with as many food options as possible.
You can start by putting out things like chips, pretzels, cheese and crackers, and other snacks that’ll hold your guests over before the real food is served. But by the time the Super Bowl kicks off, the tables in your home should be filled with finger foods like:
- Pizza
- Buffalo wings
- Pigs in a blanket
- Cocktail meatballs
- Jalapeno poppers
- More dips than you can count
- And whatever else you can get your hands on!
During Super Bowl parties, most people aren’t going to sit down for a full meal. They’re going to pick away at whatever you’ve put out for them. So make sure that the foods you serve are easy to pick up and don’t require the use of utensils.
Remember to Pick Up Plates and Napkins
It’s every Superbowl party host’s worst nightmare. The game kicks off, the food is served, everyone is ready to dig in, and…you realize that you don’t have any paper plates for people to use!
Avoid finding yourself in this scenario by picking up Super Bowl-themed plates and napkins while you’re in the party supply store buying decorations. It’ll prevent you from having to use real plates while serving food and making a big mess in your kitchen later.
It’ll also keep your home as a whole cleaner when you provide your guests with napkins. When they’re chowing down on pizza, wings, and more, their hands and fingers are going to get greasy, and they’re going to be tempted to wipe them on your furniture if you don’t have napkins around.
Plates and napkins might not seem like they’re all that important in the grand scheme of things. But your party could go off the tracks if you forget to buy them beforehand.
Buy Kegs of Beer for the Big Game
The only thing people enjoy more than eating lots and lots of food during the Super Bowl is drinking lots and lots of beer. Every year, Americans consume about 325 million gallons of beer on Super Bowl Sunday alone.
Even if you’re not a big beer drinker yourself, you shouldn’t let that stop you from stocking up on a few kegs of beer for the big game. And you shouldn’t just buy whatever is cheapest, either.
There are a bunch of different craft beer selections that would be ideal for Super Bowl Sunday. You can treat your guests to craft beer from brands like:
- Ithaca Flower Power IPA
- Anchor Brewing
- Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company
- Samuel Adams
- Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze
Just do yourself a favor and make sure you have the right keg taps and keg tap systems for the kegs of beer that you buy. Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to pour the perfect glasses of beer for your guests during the Super Bowl.
Throw in Some Soft Drinks, Too
While it’s a good idea to have more than enough beer on tap during the Super Bowl, it’s not the only beverage option you should provide to your guests.
There are going to be at least a few guests who are under the age of 21. There will also be a few who don’t drink beer and other alcoholic beverages. And there will even be some people who just prefer to drink soda over beer during the big game.
Set up a cooler right next to your beer kegs and fill them up with every different kind of soda that you can find. From cola to lemon-lime, you should have a large soda selection available to your guests.
You should mix some waters into your coolers as well, both for those who are going to be drinking beers and for those who are trying to stick to a diet during the Super Bowl by staying away from both beer and soda. This will ensure that you have something for everyone to drink.
Keep Your Coolers Stocked With Ice
You can buy all the beer, soda, and water in the world for your guests to drink. But they’re not going to touch it unless you have lots of ice on hand as well.
You can try to put beer, soda, and water in your home’s refrigerator if you want. But you’re going to struggle to keep up with the demand for cold beverages throughout the course of the night. Your guests are also going to get into your way when they’re constantly coming in and out of your kitchen for drinks.
Rather than taking this approach to keeping drinks cool, buy a bunch of bags of ice before your Superbowl party and have them on standby for your kegs and coolers. If you live in a part of the country that is cold in February, you might even be able to get away with leaving the ice right outside your front door until you need it.
Ice is another very underrated item at Superbowl parties. You would be surprised by how many people have their parties ruined when they don’t take the time to consider how much ice they’ll need to keep beverages cold for their guests.
Place Garbage Cans Throughout Your Home
On the day before the Super Bowl, you’re going to spend hours cleaning your home so that it looks presentable for your guests. And if you’re not careful, you’re going to end up spending hours cleaning it again after your party is over.
There’s no getting around doing a little bit of cleaning in your home following a Superbowl party. There are going to be spills that take place while people eat and drink as they cheer for whichever team they’re rooting for in the big game.
But you can help manage the mess in your home by strategically placing garbage cans in the various rooms throughout your house. They’ll give people a place to throw out chicken bones, dirty plates and napkins, empty soda cans, and more.
If you don’t have garbage cans located throughout your home, you’re going to be asking for trouble. Your guests are going to leave trash all over your home, which will increase the chances of spills, crumbs, and other messes.
Send Everyone Home With a Doggie Bag
No matter how hard you try to plan out the right amount of food for your Superbowl party, you’re almost always going to end up with a ton of it left over. And unfortunately, most leftover food gets thrown out because people are so stuffed that they can’t even think about bringing any food home with them.
Instead of tossing good food in the trash, pick up a couple of boxes of tin foil from the supermarket prior to your party so that you can wrap up leftovers and send people home with doggie bags. They’ll thank you later when they’re enjoying food from your party at home.
This is a great way to cap off your party and to ensure that it ends on a high note. It won’t be long before people are calling you up and asking you to host another party for the next Super Bowl.
Celebrate the Super Bowl the Right Way
The best part about hosting a Superbowl party at your house is that you get to watch the big game from the comfort of your own home. You don’t have to worry about driving to and from someone else’s house to enjoy the festivities.
But before you throw your first party for the Super Bowl, you should follow the steps listed here to ensure that it’s as successful as it can be. From purchasing the right foods to serving up the right kegs, go above and beyond to satisfy your guests.
And again: Make sure you have keg taps on hand to achieve the perfect pour for every beer! Contact QuikTap today to learn more about the taps that we have for you.