There will be more than 4 million pizzas sold Super Bowl weekend, nearly doubling orders on a typical football Sunday. Greer pizzerias are planning to get a big piece of that pie.
Merrell’s Pizza and Wild Ace Pizza and Pub are extending their hours until the end of Sunday’s Super Bowl Game between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
“We’re staffing much more than usual,” Merrell’s owner Ray Merhep, said. “We’ve doubled up on pizza dough and wings because people will gather in bigger groups.”
Wild Ace, featuring eight big screen TVs, will also stay open late. The restaurant will also have 24 beers on tap.
On top of all that pizza, about 1.3 billion chicken wings will be sold this week through Super Bowl Sunday, according to the National Chicken Council. Denise VandenBerge, co-owner of Wild Ace, said chicken wings will be as big a seller as pizza on Sunday.
Russell Kowalczyk is owner of a Pizza Hut franchise in Greer. The pizza chain had record sales of more than $10 million in online orders last Super Bowl. Kowalczyk said ordering a regular garlic knot pizza gives each person a chance to win a Pizza Hut gift card. Call Kowalczyk’s store for details.
Manager Cacie Smith, a franchise owner of Pizza Inn, said it is offering special pizza deals Sunday.
All stores are encouraging customers to call early for takeout or delivery orders.
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the five biggest pizza purchasing days of the year, followed by New Year's Eve, Halloween, the night before Thanksgiving, and New Year's Day.
Just saying, if you eat one slice of cheese pizza, six chicken wings with dressing, a few handfuls of chips with dip, two beers and a cookie, you could easily consume 2,000 calories during the game, said Heather Mangieri, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a sports nutritionist in Pittsburgh.