How to build a perfect Super Bowl 56 food/drink lineup at the stadium for less than $50 (2024)

NFL concessions don’t have to be obscenely expensive. Unless it’s the Super Bowl, which sets upon its fans with the eagerness of an airport marking up a three ounce bag of Cheez-Its to $12.

As per tradition, the game with the most expensive tickets of the year — the cheapest available seat Sunday morning was $3,600 — also has the most expensive food and beverage lineup. Super Bowl 56 takes place in a $5 billion stadium and has prices that suggest Los Angeles is trying to make that up one “super co*cktail” at a time. While a few relatively cheap items like $5 hot dogs and $4 soft pretzels remain, a standard beverage-sandwich-side trifecta will run you at least $30 at the big game and $40 if you want to add a little booze to the mix.

Super Bowl concession prices. $17 for a michelob ultra seems like a lot but it is very warm in SoFi. 🤷🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/u8kFV3LByI

— Andy Nesbitt (@anezbitt) February 13, 2022

Here’s what the full lineup looks like, according to FTW’s own Andy Nesbitt and ESPNRadio’s Arash Markazi.

Let’s say after shelling out $4,000 on a ticket, you’re down to your last $50. Rather than save that for 1/8th of a surge-priced Uber back downtown, you decide you’re gonna live it up and pour that into the concessions that’ll keep you happy through three hours of football. What are you buying?

Here’s how I’d approach Super Bowl 56’s overpriced snack stands.

1. Craft beer ($19)

It’s a football game. THE football game, in fact. There’s no way I’m watching it without a beer, even if one pint costs roughly the same price as a case of Coors Banquet here in Wisconsin. There’s also no way I can read “PREMIUM BEER (MICHELOB ULTRA) – $17” without my eyes rolling into the back of my head so hard my retinas detach, but that’s really my problem, not yours, right?

Anyway, Super Bowl 56 is a Bud Light joint, but Anheuser-Busch has a pretty solid array of craft beers in its portfolio to choose from. We don’t know who has set up shop at SoFi Stadium, but there’s a good chance it’s breweries with connections to their local NFL clubs like Elysian, Breckenridge, or Goose Island. I don’t love the idea of dropping $20+ on one beer (and tip), but if I am I’d rather it be a high-test IPA like Space Dust or Full Contact — the latter of which I highlighted in my Super Bowl beer guide earlier this week.

2. 2 hot dogs ($10)

There are multiple hot dog options in Inglewood. There’s also a deep fried jalapeno cheddar sausage whose origin can only be explained by a vengeful chef wanting to punish buyers by blasting the roofs of their mouths with a magma explosion of boiling hot cheese.

Rather than splurge on a $16 hot that’s only 1/3rd of a pound, I’m opting for two traditional weiners, which I can only hope are similar to the Dodger Dogs across town. Google assures me the two venues are a mere 13 miles and two-hour drive away from each other. The extra bun and customization options — onions, mustard, and god-willing a warm vat of soggy, picked-over sauerkraut — makes this the most filling option you’re gonna find for $10

3. Chips and queso ($7)

Don’t let the name fool you. These are stadium nachos all the way. Close your eyes: you know exactly what they look like. Round yellow corn tortilla chips from a massive foodservice supply bag. Plastic container with a special indent for incandescent nacho cheese that bathes the rest of the entree in an unnatural orange glow.

Yep, that’s it. Filling, delicious, and something you’d never eat at home because you haven’t given up on life just yet. Perfect ballpark food.

4. Bud Light ($13)

Listen, I see it too. But you’re gonna get thirsty over the course of a three-hour game and one beer isn’t gonna do the trick. If you opt for tater tots over nachos you can upgrade to Michelob Ultra over Bud Light, but if you think there’s any appreciable difference between the two besides the amount of CrossFit conversations that take place while holding one, you’re severely mistaken.

It tastes sorta like beer and it comes in an aluminum cup. Good enough.

Total: $49

Total estimated calories: 1,500

There you go. I’ve taken in enough caloric content to get me through at least three hours of football and even have a dollar left over to wager on Evan McPherson as Super Bowl MVP at +13000. What about you? Here’s your $50: what are you buying at Super Bowl 56?