Host a game day party where the food sits in slow cookers and one cooler, so you watch the game instead of running a kitchen. Add a squares grid on poster board, and everyone has a reason to care about every quarter, even guests who don't follow the sport.
This theme works for adults, teens and families with kids, any weekend from September to early February, peaking with the big game. It is an indoor party around the biggest screen you own, with an optional backyard for halftime. The sample is 16 guests, mostly adults with a few kids, from 45 minutes before kickoff to the final whistle. Plan on about 3 hours plus pregame. The game day party theme lists more food and decor ideas.
The game plan
- Set the arrival time from kickoff. Check the kickoff time in your own time zone, then ask guests to arrive 45 minutes before it. Send invitations 3 to 4 weeks ahead, or 2 weeks for a regular-season game. A game day plan puts dates on the rest.
- Test the screen the day before. Turn on the channel or the stream you will use, at the hour of the game, and check for window glare. A stream that buffers at kickoff is hard to fix with a full room watching.
- Arrange seats for sight lines. Count real seats facing the TV, then borrow or rent folding chairs to cover everyone. Add floor cushions up front for kids. Put the food table behind the seating so no one stands in front of the screen.
- Draw the squares grid. A 10 by 10 grid on poster board, with one team across the top and one down the side. With 16 guests, that is about 6 squares each. Draw the row and column numbers only after every square is filled.
- Start the slow cookers by late morning. Chili in one and queso in another, both on low. Bake or air-fry the wings 30 minutes before arrival and hold them in a 200°F oven.
- Pack the cooler. Plan on the planner's drink count below, then add 25% because games run long. Put the non-alcoholic options on top, in plain view.
- Set up the cornhole boards before kickoff. Place them about 27 feet apart in the yard or a cleared garage, so halftime starts the moment the whistle blows.
If you serve alcohol, keep good alcohol-free drinks flowing and make sure no one drives home impaired. Line up rides or a couch before kickoff.
What game day costs for 16
| Level | Per guest | 16 guests |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Home food, homemade games | $10 | $160 |
| Standard Bakery cake and one hired activity | $20 | $320 |
| Splurge Entertainer, rentals, and custom decor | $40 | $640 |
| Line | Simple | Standard | Splurge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wings and mains | $40: homemade wings | $80: a restaurant wing tray | $245: barbecue by the pound from a smokehouse |
| Chili, dips and sides | $35 | $70: adds sliders and seven-layer dip | Included above |
| Drinks and ice | $40 | $85 | $155 |
| Decor and tableware | $20 | $30: adds a turf runner and pennants | $60 |
| Games and prizes | $10: printed bingo, small prizes | $25: adds a borrowed cornhole set | $130: an outdoor projector screen to keep and better prizes (borrow a projector; renting one with a screen runs about $700) |
| Dessert | $15: homemade brownie | $30: bakery cupcakes | $50: a decorated bakery cake |
Decor that scores without trying
The turf runner. A roll of artificial turf or green felt down the food table, with white tape every few inches for yard lines. It turns a folding table into a field and protects it from sauce.
The squares board. Prop it on an easel or tape it to a wall near the TV. It doubles as decor and conversation.
Team colors, or both teams'. Balloons and pennants in your team's colors, or both teams' if the room is split. Use colors only, not team logos, and you can reuse the decor every season.
DIY the turf runner and pennants. Buy plenty of napkins, about four per guest, because of the wings. Skip a big centerpiece, which blocks the dip.
The menu: wings, a pot, and a cooler
| What | How many | Why |
|---|---|---|
| lb of food | 16 | About 1 lb a guest for a meal |
| Plates | 32 | 40 cups and 48 napkins too |
| Drinks | 64 | Soda, sparkling water, beer or wine: 2 a guest the first hour, then 1 |
| Waters (8 oz) | 24 | 4 oz a guest an hour; or about 1.5 gallons in a dispenser |
| lb of ice | 32 | 2 lb a guest; double it on a hot day |
| Seats | 10 | About 60% of guests at once |
| Dessert servings | 16 | Cake or a dessert table: a quarter sheet |
- Wings: about 6 per guest alongside the chili and dips, so about 100 wings, or roughly 10 pounds. Two sauces, one mild.
- Chili: about a gallon in a 6-quart slow cooker, with cheese, sour cream and onions on the side.
- Queso or seven-layer dip, with 3 to 4 big bags of chips.
- Sliders: 2 packs of slider rolls, for guests who don't want wings.
- Veggie tray, for balance and for the kids.
Wings, chili and dips go back in the fridge after 2 hours out (FoodSafety.gov). Refill small bowls from the kitchen instead of leaving one big bowl out all game.
For dessert, a grocery bakery can do cupcakes in team colors. For DIY, bake a 9x13 pan of brownies, cut a football oval with a knife, and pipe white frosting laces down the middle. Serve it at the start of the fourth quarter.
Game day games for every quarter
The game itself sets the pace: one game that runs all game long, one for the ads, one for halftime and one for the fourth quarter. Adults and teens play everything below, and kids get their own corner with picture cards and a ball.
Squares game
Ages 10 and up · 5 minutes to fill, then all game · up to 100 squares
Guests write their names in squares on the 10 by 10 grid as they arrive. Fifteen minutes before kickoff, draw numbers 0 to 9 for each row and column. After each quarter, the square matching the last digit of each team's score wins a small prize, never cash.
- You need: 1 poster board (about $2), 2 markers (about $3), 5 small prizes (about $2 to $5 each)
Commercial bingo
Ages 8 and up · 30 minutes, across the first half · everyone
Cards list things the ads tend to show: a dog, a celebrity cameo, a car on a mountain road, a talking animal. First full row shouts it out and picks a prize. For a regular-season game, swap in game bingo: a flag, a field goal, a timeout, a coach on a headset.
- You need: 16 bingo cards from the free printables (free), 16 pens
Halftime cornhole
Ages 6 and up · 20 minutes · teams of 2
Set the boards about 27 feet apart, closer for kids. Teams play to 21 and winners hold the board until the second half starts. Rain or no yard: move it to the garage with the door open, or play paper football flick on the coffee table, flicking a folded paper triangle through finger goalposts.
- You need: 1 cornhole set (borrow one, or about $50 to $80 new), paper and tape for the indoor swap
Call the next play
Ages 8 and up · the 4th quarter · everyone
Before each snap, everyone calls "run" or "pass" out loud. Keep your own score on your fingers, and the best caller at the final whistle gets first pick of the leftovers.
- You need: nothing
Kids' corner: picture bingo and a halftime toss
Ages 4 to 10 · 20 minutes · all the kids
Kids get bingo cards with simple pictures, like a ball, a referee and a mascot, plus crayons to mark them. At halftime, take them outside with a foam football and a hula hoop to throw through. Kids can have squares too, with candy as prizes.
- You need: picture bingo cards (free), a box of crayons (about $2), 1 foam football (about $8 to $10), 1 hula hoop (about $3 to $5)
Activity station: the score prediction board
Tape a second poster board by the cooler with four lines: final score, first team to score, total points, and the quarter with the most points. Guests write their picks as they grab a drink, and it needs no host. Allow about 2 feet of wall and a cup of markers on a shelf below.
- You need: 1 poster board (about $2), 3 markers (about $3), painter's tape
Prizes: small and the same size for every winner: a candy bar, a mini bag of chips or novelty socks, about $1 to $5 each. The best non-candy prize is first pick of the leftovers. If teens are playing, keep the beer in its own cooler, apart from the soda.
Games shopping list: 2 poster boards, markers, painter's tape, pens, small prizes, crayons, a foam football, a hula hoop, and a cornhole set if you can't borrow one.
Kickoff to final whistle
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 45 min before kickoff | Arrivals, squares grid filled in, score prediction board, drinks from the cooler. |
| 15 min before | Food out. Draw the squares numbers and write them on the board. |
| Kickoff | Commercial bingo cards out; picture bingo for kids. |
| End of each quarter | Check the squares, hand out a small prize. |
| Halftime | Halftime cornhole, about 20 minutes, and the kids' football toss. |
| Start of 4th quarter | Dessert. Call the next play until the final whistle. |
| Final whistle | Final squares prize, leftovers in containers, done. |
The free game day printables include a game day bingo card, a fill-in invitation and a door sign. Draw the squares grid by hand.
Favors? Put it in the prizes
Skip favors and spend the money on squares and bingo prizes instead. Leftovers in a to-go container are the real take-home.
Game day fumbles
- Testing the stream at kickoff. Check it the day before, at the same hour.
- The host is stuck in the kitchen. If a dish needs you during the game, swap it for a slow cooker one.
- Running out of ice. Thirty-two pounds of ice for 16 guests is a safe start for a long game, and double it on a hot day.
- One side of the room shouted down. If fans of both teams come, seat them together and keep the decor neutral. It is more fun when nobody feels outnumbered.
Call an audible
- A sports birthday: pair a fall birthday with game day. The sports birthday party plan shows the kids' version.
- College Saturday: start earlier, keep it outdoors with a portable grill, and play cornhole all afternoon.
- Watch party in the yard: for a warm-weather game, rent a projector and screen and set up camp chairs.
Game day party questions
What time should a game day party start?
About 45 minutes before kickoff. That gives guests time to fill the squares grid and get food before the game begins.
How many wings per person for a game day party?
About 6 per guest when there is chili and dips too, or 10 to 12 if wings are the main event.
How does the squares game work?
Guests write their names in a 10 by 10 grid, then numbers 0 to 9 are drawn for each row and column. After each quarter, the square that matches the last digit of each team's score wins a small prize.
What games can you play at a game day party?
A squares grid for the whole game, commercial bingo during the ads, cornhole at halftime and calling run or pass in the fourth quarter. Give kids picture bingo and a foam football.
