The Number 1 Rule for Hosting the Ultimate Game-Day Party is: Keep it Simple
Game Day parties are easiest to plan thanks to Rule Number 1. Simple, no fuss sports parties are about having fun with family and friends around the TV, that's it, nothing more. Think foods that you can easily eat with your hands: Pizza, Wings, savory dips, hearty chips and something unique to drink. In How To Host The Ultimate Game-Day Party | Food, Drinks & More we share the best food choices, the perfect drink recipe and things to do to keep your guests engaged from kick-off to the final second.
How To Host The Ultimate Game-Day Party |Food, Drinks & More
Game-Day Party Fact #1: Your guests will be glued to the TV
Forget the dining room table for this one. If you have a TV in the kitchen or your bar, set paper plates, plastic utensils, and food on your counter. Food and drinks need to be within arms reach so people can eat while watching TV. No one wants to miss a minute of the game, commercials or half-time show so keep food and drinks handy. Set up a table in the room with your TV and use coffee and end tables. To control drips and spills grab a roll of white or brown packaging paper and cut lengths to cover the table. Use colored tape to mark off football field 'grid-lines' and tape the paper to your table. Big games often play on weeknights or late Sunday evening. When you use paper clean up takes seconds! Gently pull off the tape, toss it and you are done! Depending on how big your big-game party is, you might want to place large trash cans in the room or your yard for guests to toss their mess!
Game-Day Party Fact #2: Your guests are hungry for specific foods.
Commercials leading up to the game set expectations for your guests. They come to your party wanting certain things, game-day comfort foods! They are looking for great flavor, easy to eat foods they are familiar with, now is not the time to introduce your friends to pate' and persimmons!
Game Day Party Fact #3 Pizza is the number one Game-Day party food with Wings coming in a close second!
It's simple, pizza is a fun food! And with so many choices you can easily please everyone.
Check out our list for the best places to get pizza for Game-Day!
Think Popcorn, Peanuts, and Chips! We love the gourmet popcorn available from iPop Gourmet Popcorn. You can order from iPop online or buy from them in their Hillsborough Avenue store, how does Caramel Espresso Crunch sound! Choose from several flavors and customize colors too. Buy brown paper lunch bags, you or your kids can decorate them for pre-party fun, fill them with popcorn and set them on the counter for guests to grab. Serve good old-fashioned ridged Potato Chips, Pita chips, Corn Tortilla chips and savory dips with veggies too like:
Buffalo Chicken Beer Cheese Dip (great served with celery), Queso Blanco and Jalapeno Popper Dip.
Game-Day Fact #5 - Most people have to go to work the next day, they want to drink, but not be hungover the next day.
When it comes to alcohol at your party you can get a little creative. Plan on having a light feature drink, fruity wines, domestic and craft beers on hand. We love this light and fruity punch from Touch Vodka. You can make it in pitchers, adding the beer for bubbles before serving. Remember, game-day parties are Red Solo cup days! No fancy glasses!
Touch-Down Punch
1 ½ cups Campari
1 ½ cups Touch Vodka - Valencia Orange
1 ½ cups orange juice
Stir to combine in a large pitcher with ice.
Just before serving pour in and stir one 12 oz. can of Cigar City Brewing Co. Florida Cracker® beer (available at most ABC Fine Wine and Liquor stores)
Serve immediately.
If you have a bar fridge stock it with your favorite craft beers, get creative letting guests discover new beers at your party. If you don't have a fridge near the TV load coolers, scattering them around the room or your patio. Underfoot is good on game day! If you are outside and it's cool enough load anything from an aluminum tub to a kiddie pool with ice and stock it with domestic and craft beers, white wines, and interesting hard ciders.
Game-Day Fact #6 - Fans Don't Let Fans Drive Drunk!.
Make plans ahead of time, reach out to your teens or kids in the neighborhood to arrange rides for guests, paying them with gift cards or cash.
Game-day Fact #7 - When the game is a blow-out people lose interest, you need ways to keep people engaged.
How do you keep guests engaged? When your favorite team is not in the game, or worse yet the game is a blowout, here's a way to keep people cheering and engaged right down to the final seconds. Add a 100-square football pool to your party. Everyone can afford to play and you do NOT need to know anything about football to participate.
100 Square Football Pool How To
On a piece of white poster board draw a grid of ten boxes across and ten down. Write the name of the competing teams - one on top, one down the side. You choose the cost of each block, typically they are $1.00 each for a total pool of $100, broken into quarters players can win $25 at the end of each quarter. Once your guests decide how many squares they are buying they randomly write their names in the blocks equaling the number of blocks they bought. If you buy in for $5, you can write your name on five blocks. Once all the blocks are filled with names write the numbers 0 - 9 on separate pieces of paper and toss them into a hat or bowl. Have someone randomly draw numbers one at a time and write them down across the top of the grid from left to right, one number above each column. Put the numbers back in the bowl and repeat the process writing the numbers as they are drawn down the side of the grid. You are ready to play! At the close of each quarter of the game, using the score, locate the name matching up with the score to declare a winner. For example, if the teams are The Minnesota Vikings and The Philadelphia Eagles and the first-quarter score is 12/ Vikings to 9/ Eagles, you would start with the #2 for Vikings and the #9 for Eagles, follow the two numbers to their apex. The person who has Vikings-2, Eagles-9 wins the $25 for that quarter! If playing for money is not permitted in your state, play for something else, such as simply winning and bragging rights! Pools make a football party fun!
Watching the big game is only half the fun; good company and fun conversation as you watch the game, commercials and half-time show factor in too.
We hope this guide to How To Host The Ultimate Game-Day Party |Food, Drinks & More kicks off the fun making your party an all-star event!
Let us know who you think will win Super Bowl this year in Comments below! We enjoy hearing from you!
If you want to stay connected to sports in Tampa, register with us on 813area, it's always free and we'll connect you to things to do in Tampa and so much more!
