With Super Bowl LX just around the corner, chicken wings remain a popular item for game day gatherings. The National Chicken Council predicts Americans will eat 1.48 billion wings at Super Bowl parties.

In Alabama, 1.17 billion broilers, or chickens raised for meat, are produced annually. Each bird yields two full wings, typically disjointed and thought of as four retail wings. That amounts to 4.68 billion wings. So, Alabama’s poultry farmers could, in effect, supply the same amount of wings that are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday in just under four months of production. That means there is a good chance that when you dip a wing in your favorite sauce for the Super Bowl, you’re eating an Alabama product.

Figure 1. 2026 wholesale chicken wing prices (cents per pound) compared to 2025 prices and average prices from 2022 to 2024
Data Source: USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service

Wholesale Prices

With the big game just a few days away, if you don’t have your wing supply ready, you better get to the store soon. Chicken wing prices have been on a roller coaster ride over the last few years. So far, 2025 looks to be a good year for buying chicken wings. Wholesale wing prices started the year below $1.00 per pound and have only risen to slightly above $1.10 per pound (figure 1). That is 66 percent lower than the $3.24 per pound wholesale price in January 2022, which was a historic high. With college basketball’s tournament upcoming—another major wing event—it looks like good news for chicken wing lovers.

Retail Market

Chicken wing prices have never been highly predictable. However, with major football and basketball events driving wing consumption, expect local sources for wings, especially retail restaurants, to capitalize on the high demand.

Hopefully competition combined with the low wholesale cost will push wing retailers to keep prices low. However, there are currently 1.12 million pounds fewer wings in cold storage than there were at this same time last year. That could push prices higher. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the current average retail price for conventional fresh party wings in the Southeast is $2.49 per pound, with IQF (frozen) wings coming in slightly higher at $2.67 per pound. If the supply holds, maybe wing prices will stay low, too. No matter the prices, one thing is for sure: Alabama growers will continue to do their part to provide plenty of quality wings.