ALEXANDRIA, VA - We know the Super Bowl attracts big ratings, to the tune of as many as 111 million viewers, but let's put that data into context: The convenience store industry serves, on average, 160 million customers a day. And we can expect even bigger crowds this Sunday. So, while 111 million people may set a viewership record, it would be a really slow day in our industry.

But what about the food and drink that consumers will be enjoying? There will be a lot: Super Bowl Sunday is considered the second-largest food event in America behind only Thanksgiving. The average viewer will likely consume about 1,200 calories.

Overall, Americans will double their average daily consumption of snacks on Sunday, more than 33 million pounds of snacks overall. This includes:

• 11.2 million pounds of potato chips
• 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips
• 4.3 million pounds of pretzels
• 3.8 million pounds of popcorn
• 2.5 million pounds of nuts.
  

And to wash it down? Americans will consume 50 million cases of beer on Super Bowl Sunday, according to SaveonBeer.com.

Viewers will also consume more than 1.23 billion chicken wings this coming weekend, according to the National Chicken Council??s 2013 Wing Report. Pizza is another big item. Pizza Hut says that it will sell more than 2 million pizzas, or 16 million slices, and Domino??s says that it will sell 11 million slices, about 14 million pizzas.

One more thing that you??ll need to know about the game: plan your work schedules accordingly for the next day. The Monday after the Super Bowl is considered the biggest unofficial holiday of the year, which means not everyone will show up for work. It??s estimated that 1.5 million people will call in sick on Monday. Of course, that may be a sales opportunity for headache and stomachache relief products!