The Big Game Football Party – 51 Tips

February 5th will be an exciting day this year. The New England Patriots will go head to head against the Atlanta Falcons. Last year over 111 million viewers enjoyed the Big Game, yummy snacks and the barrage of commercials that are always extra entertaining. Did you know the average person holding a Big Game football party spent $118?  Since this year’s Super Bowl is Number 51 we thought we’d give you more than 51 tips to make your party a total blast this year. We’re also going to brush up on our football terminology as part of the fun. So ready, set, HIKE . . here’s Part 1 of our three part series.

Vince Lombardi Trophy

This trophy is awarded to the Super Bowl winning team each year. Let’s get some party inspiration from Vince Lombardi. Coach Lombardi said,  “The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” To have a “trophy-winning” party you need to make what you have work. Evaluate your situation, your home, the amount of prep time you will have, your help, your budget and then get started with the Big Game football party planning. These tips will help you act as head Coach of this party and go for the win!

You Need a Playbook

A football playbook contains diagrams of the plays. Every team has one. Whether you are entertaining a handful of people or a houseful it’s good to make a detailed party plan. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to actually draw a map out.

• Make a Guest List and get everyone invited (mail, text, email, build a Facebook event).
• Draw up a diagram of the room(s) where you will have your party.
• Where will everyone eat, play games, sit, watch the Big Game?
• Do you have several televisions or viewing areas?
• Where will your drink station be?
• Will there be small children there?  What will they be doing? Where will they be playing?

Did you know that Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest day of the year for food consumption? You will probably have a large menu and a large shopping list for your football party. Here’s a tip – you can shop online at Publix here in SWFL and they will deliver everything to you. What a time saver!

Home Stadium

Did you know that no Super Bowl team has ever played the Big Game in their home stadium? This is where you have the advantage. This party is all on your turf and no one knows it better. You will be doing all the prep work in your kitchen. This makes everything easier for sure. Clean out your refrigerator so you have plenty of room for all the ingredients and also to hold all the cold foods until you serve them. Will you be using a separate refrigerator for drinks? If not, this is the time to round up extra coolers to hold ice and cold soda and beers.

Avoid Penalties

Penalties in football are fouls. One of the biggest party fouls in SWFL is not having your air conditioner working properly. It could be 70 degrees or it could be 90 degrees here on February 5. You just never know. So be sure to have your air conditioner serviced if you haven’t already. A houseful of sweating uncomfortable football fans is no fun for anyone and a sure deal breaker! Home-Tech includes an air conditioning clean and check with our Member’s Service Agreement. So don’t wait. Get yours checked out today!

Hurry Up Offense

In football this is a style of offense where there is no break between the plays. You need to use this strategy for prepping your kitchen. It can be completely frustrating to have an appliance break down while prepping or worse, during a big party. One of the most frequent service call requests that Home-Tech gets is the self -cleaning oven feature breaking the oven.  You don’t want this happening the day before your party, so hurry up and USE THE SELF CLEAN FEATURE NOW just in case it doesn’t go well. That way you’ll have time to have a Home-Tech service call and repair. Actually the best time to clean your oven is after you’ve cooked a large amount in it. So, we recommend that you use the self clean feature after the Superbowl is over.

Marty Ball

Marty Schottenheimer is known for a strategy focused on the running game.  Home-Tech has the same strategy. We focus on keeping all the major appliances and air conditioning in your home running. If your ice maker isn’t making ice properly, for example, call us now for a repair. You are going to need a lot of ice for your party. If your garbage disposal is not chopping very well, now is the time to take care of it. Here’s a tip video from Home-Tech about how to reset your garbage disposal, just in case you need it.

The Locker Room

Yes, we know you don’t have a locker room in your home but you do have restrooms and they will get major usage during your party. Do you have a leaking faucet or a running toilet? Home-Tech also handles plumbing repairs so now might be a good time to call us to take care of that. We’re pretty sure you don’t want to haul in a porta potty for your party guests. Right?

Blocking

Blocking is where a player obstructs another player’s path. So this is a good place in our tips to address parking for your party. Not too many people are equipped with extra driveway or parking lot space to accommodate a large number of extra vehicles. It’s a good idea to have a parking plan and maybe someone to help people park so you don’t lose that favorite tree in your yard in the process. Maybe guests can ride share?

Tailgate

Everyone enjoys tailgating when they go to a football field but why not tailgate at your home for your Super Bowl party? It surely is possible with the great weather we have here in SWFL. At least part of your party could be outside – the pre-game part.

• Cook out!
• Play yard games.
• Get a scrimmage game of tag football going.
• Toss a football with the kids.
• Put some snacks and cold drinks outside for everyone to enjoy.
• If you have an outdoor kitchen it’s the perfect time to use it.
• If you’ve ever wanted a beer kegerator for your outdoor kitchen this would be the perfect time to stop in Home-Tech’s Member Appliance Center and check one out.

Formation

This is the position that the players line up in before the start of a down. Every player knows where to go and what their job is. It’s up to you as the Coach of this party to get your family on board with the party plans. It can be a lot of fun to work on this together and even little children can help with football party chores.

Game Clock

The game clock keeps the official time for the game. It’s up to you to set the timing for your football party.

• When do you want everyone there?
• What time do you want to serve drinks and appetizers?
• What time do you want to serve the main foods and desserts?
• And if you are planning any fun games for the guests when will that be?

Set timer reminders for yourself on your phone for all the important things. That way you won’t forget any parts of your plan. There’s nothing worse than finding your famous taco dip in the back of the refrigerator after everyone has gone home.

Chain Crew

This is the crew that manages the signal poles on the sidelines. A football game couldn’t be successful without the help of a lot of people and the same goes for your party. Who are your helpers? If you have small children designate someone to keep them busy while you are cooking and prepping. Who’s making sure the dog doesn’t get out? Who can help with clean up? Who can serve as bartender? The more help you have the smoother things will go, and the more fun you will have. After all, you want to enjoy your football party and time visiting with your friends too.

Coin Toss

The coin toss at the beginning of the game decides who will have possession of the football first. Don’t leave your menu choices up to a coin toss. There’s more to it than heads or tails – meatballs or little wienies.  Look over your Guest List and based on who is coming and what they like and need put your menu together. Does anyone have any special diet restrictions? Is anyone ON a diet? How many children will be there? It might be good to poll the guests to see what some of their favorite football party foods are before you finalize the menu.

Cut Back

A cut back in football is a sudden change in direction by the ball carrier. Although you can have a Super Bowl party on a tight budget this might be one time of the year you decide to splurge. After all it is the biggest game of the year and it’s just all-American to celebrate with friends and family. Some people have their entire party catered and then it’s more relaxing. Home-Tech has had our friends at Mona Lisa’s cater a couple of events for us and the pizza was great. We like to recommend our friends in the Ft Myers Chamber of Commerce.

Hand Off

We’ve all seen the quarterback hand off to other players all game long. It’s a winning strategy to not do it all by yourself. It can be fun for everyone to hand off the responsibility of side dishes to the guests. For example, have them bring the ingredients for a Nacho Bar. That way they’ll  feel good about helping. Here’s a great Nacho Bar from Pinterest. Have your guests bring cooked ground beef, black beans, green onions, jalapeno slices, tomatoes, black olives, taco sauce, salsa, chips, cheeses, sour cream, etc. Then you can all work together to build the nacho bar and eat it up.

Sidelines

This is the area out of bounds on a football field and where players and coaches watch the game and rest. You know who your wallflowers are that will be at your football party, the ones who stay on the sidelines and are more shy. Draw them into the fun by giving them a job to do when they first get there. It breaks the ice for them and helps them feel more at ease right away.

Pass Attempt

Passed food or buffet – which is better? Usually a combination of both works pretty well.  Set up the messier foods buffet-style to save wear and tear on your home and pass the dry foods – chips, popcorn, nuts, etc. Crock pots work really well for football party buffet foods. We’ll be sharing some excellent crock pot recipe ideas in part 2 of this blog series.

Bench Clearing Brawl

You certainly don’t want this at your football party, but some competition is a fun thing. Ask everyone to bring their best devilled egg recipe, have a vote and declare a winner. Have everyone bring a couple bottles of craft beer and do a tasting and vote for the best. Have a best dressed fan contest, a rabid fan contest, any kind of contest is fun.

Gatorade Shower

Be sure to plan for non alcoholic beverages as well as alcohol. After all, every team has a waterboy! Here’s a really fun recipe from Pinterest to make Gatorade jello shots. We’ll be sharing the rest of our food and drink recipe ideas in Part 2 of this series. So, stay tuned!