Hosting the Perfect Superbowl Party

Few things are certain in this life: things like death, taxes, and millions upon millions of people gathering around a television set to watch the Superbowl every year.

Superbowl Sunday is a big deal to me. I have hosted a number of parties and I have attended a number of parties. I’m a bit of a football nerd as I look forward to all of the festivities including - but not limited to - the week leading up to the game.

Few things I can guarantee will happen next week: on Media Day, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will have to answer question after question about their relationship with Donald Trump and Roger Goodall. I can also guarantee at least one player from both teams will make a spectacle of themselves to grab some headlines and as sure as I am sitting here writing this blog I can all but guarantee someone will get arrested next week - could be a current player or it could be a former player (see Warren Sapp). Being that the game is in Houston at least one player from each team will be wearing a cowboy hat during media day as well.

Now I’m getting off topic.

The purpose of this blog is to give you the preeminent guide to hosting the perfect Super Bowl Party. It’s really not that hard and it can be done in three easy steps.

1.  Gluttony of Good Food
2.  Prop Bets for Everyone
3.  Good Friends  

Gluttony of Good Food

Look, if everything else goes wrong at your Superbowl Party, at the very least your guests should go home with a full belly of delicious food that will take years off your life.

The Superbowl is perfectly placed at the beginning of February - New Year's Resolutions have already been broken and it is a full month after Christmas so your stomach is ready for another binge day of eating. The Superbowl is like Thanksgiving or Christmas - it's not a time to get creative. Give the people what they want.

This means, chicken wings, nachos, chips, dip, pizza, mozza sticks, deep fried pickles, pulled pork, chilli, and anything that requires a deep fryer. It’s a good idea to have a veggie tray to add some colour to your feasting table but don’t go overboard with the healthy stuff.

Now the host isn’t responsible for providing all of this food. A good host will delegate and people coming to your party want to bring something anyways, so let them know what you’re providing and what else is needed.

Prop Bets for Everyone

This is something my friends and I have been doing for the past 6 years and it has really elevated our Superbowl parties.

The key to this is to make the bets for everyone and not just for the hardcore Football fan.

It will also require you to get a little creative.

A sharpie and a Bristol board are needed to create the board for your prop bets. You can have two kinds of bets: 50/50 and winner takes all.

We section the board off into squares and usually have about 10-15 bets for everyone to enjoy. Now since I’m not one to encourage gambling I suggest using chocolate loonies and having each bet cost 2 chocolate loonies. Guests are encouraged to stock up on chocolate at the bank or dollar store before the big game.

Some standard bets that should be included are how long will the national anthem last for, which player will score first (I recommend taking a kicker), half time score, final score, and who will win Superbowl MVP. Now what makes this fun is the creative bets. Creative bets can be how many times they will cut away to Roger Goodall, how many songs Lada Gaga will perform at half time, will Lady Gaga make a political statement, and how many times will the broadcast reference deflate gate and Tom Brady being suspended.

These bets should be discussed with your guests before the game and you should encourage bringing some creative ideas to make the experience fun for everyone. The great thing about this is it keeps the game interesting even in a blowout and it forces people to actually watch the game, which really is why you’re having the party in the first place.

Good Friends

This one is pretty self explanatory and it is the most crucial aspect to hosting a successful Superbowl Party - even if the game stinks, you lose money on the prop bets, and the food was only so-so if you’re hanging out with good friends for four hours, you are going to go home a happy camper.

Make sure you invite your good friends and leave the Debby Downers at home. Nothing is more annoying at a Superbowl party than someone who complains about Football during the entire party. Now is not the time to give your analysis on everything that is wrong with this flawed game. A Superbowl party is not the time to tell me why you would never let your child play this barbaric sport. I get it, Football is violent and is an extremely flawed game and while all of your arguments are valid, a party is not the time to be bringing them up. 

Seriously if find yourself doing that during Superbowl Sunday, shut up and eat some nachos.

Now if you follow these simple steps, I guarantee you will have a great Superbowl party. Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comment section below.                                  

Cheers