Buffalo Wild Wings has made an impressive promise with the American people. The restaurant chain revealed on Wednesday, January 23, that it plans to shower the citizens of this country with free chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday — but it’s not quite that simple.
The contract with wing lovers nationwide is contingent on the February 3 matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots going into overtime, and it involves something BWW is calling the “overtime button.” Apparently, this “button,” which resembles a gambling chip, has been working hard for the past several months.
This regular football season consisted of 15 games that went into overtime, and for the first time in history, two postseason games required an extended period of play on the same day. “If this final game goes into extra time, everyone in America will win a free snack-sized wings on February 18 from 4-7 p.m. local time,” said a press release from the Minnesota-based company.
“We know fans get a thrill out of having something riding on the outcome of the game, and given the number of overtime games we’ve seen all season, we wanted to up the ante for everyone,” explained Seth Freeman, the restaurant’s chief marketing officer. “Even if you don’t have a dog in the fight, we all have a common rooting interest in extending the game because that means more football, and now, free wings!”
For the most part, social media was understandably psyched at the prospect of free food. “FINGERS CROSSED we all get FREE WINGS at Buffalo Wild Wings if the Super Bowl game goes into overtime,” wrote one hopeful Twitter user. Added another, less enthused person: “I’m not watching so I really don’t care.”
Free or not, Super Bowl Sunday is always a huge day for chicken wings. BWW revealed more than 14 million traditional and boneless wings were sold at its establishments on game day in 2018, and the chain estimates hundreds of thousands of fans will pack into more than 1,200 of its restaurants on February 3 to watch the Rams and the Patriots play. Here’s hoping the game lasts a very long time!
