Super Bowl drinking game: rules for every quarter
A Super Bowl drinking game gives everyone a team, a few game rules (sip on a touchdown against your team, a flag, a challenge), a separate set for the commercials and one for the halftime show. Add football squares or prop bets for sips, and the room stays in the game even when the score is lopsided. It is a four-hour broadcast, so keep every rule to a sip.
Pick a team
Before kick-off, everyone picks a team (or draws one from a hat, if the room is lopsided). Most rules below depend on it.
Game rules
Sip when:
- The other team scores a touchdown (2 sips), a field goal (1)
- Your team gets a flag
- A coach throws a challenge flag (everyone)
- A turnover against your team
- A kick is missed (the kicking team’s fans)
- The camera shows a celebrity in the crowd (everyone)
Hand out a sip when your team scores. Keep the list to six; the game has enough stoppages already.
Commercial rules
The ads are half the event. Sip when an ad has:
- An animal doing something human
- A celebrity cameo you recognise instantly
- A sequel to an ad from last year
- A car driving through a landscape it could never fit in
- A twist ending
The person who guesses the brand first in each ad can hand out a sip.
Halftime show rules
- A costume change: everyone sips
- A surprise guest: everyone sips
- Pyrotechnics: hand out a sip
- The performer plays their biggest hit last: whoever called it hands out two sips
Football squares with sips
Draw a 10×10 grid on paper. One team’s name goes along the top, the other down the side. Everyone signs squares until the grid is full, then write the digits 0 to 9 in random order along each side. At the end of each quarter, find the square that matches the last digit of each team’s score. Whoever owns it hands out sips (one for Q1, two for Q2, and so on). It keeps everyone watching even when the game is a blowout.
Prop bets for sips
Before kick-off, everyone answers ten yes/no questions on a sheet: Will the coin toss be heads? Will there be a safety? Will the first score be a field goal? Will the halftime show have a guest? Will the winning coach get doused? Each wrong answer is a sip, settled at the end of the night. Highest score wins bragging rights.
Super Bowl bingo
Print bingo cards with game, ad and halftime squares (“a two-point conversion”, “an ad with a dog”, “the commentator says ‘legacy’”). First line wins; the others sip. Make the cards on our drinking bingo page.
For the breaks
During the long breaks, run a round of Flip Cup between the two teams’ fans, or a quick Beer Pong game with water cups. Hosting? Our party drink calculator works out how much to buy for the length of the game.
Pace a four-hour game
It is a long broadcast with a lot of rules. Keep every rule to a sip, put food out before kick-off, and alternate with water. A soft drink works for every rule above. Plan the way home before the final whistle. More on our responsible drinking page.
Questions people ask
What are the rules of a Super Bowl drinking game?
Everyone picks a team. Sip when the other team scores, when your team gets a flag, on a coach's challenge, a turnover or a missed kick. Add commercial and halftime rules so people who don't follow football play too.
How do football squares work with drinks?
Draw a 10×10 grid, write each team's name on one side and a random digit 0 to 9 on each row and column. Players sign squares. At the end of each quarter, the square that matches the last digit of each score gives out sips.
How do you play during the commercials?
Give the ads their own rules: sip when an ad has an animal, a celebrity cameo, a car, or a sequel to last year's ad. Fans of the ads usually like this part more than the game.
How long does a Super Bowl drinking game last?
About four hours, which is why rules should be sips, not drinks. Pick rules that happen a few times a game, and pause the game rules at halftime.
Who's gettingwrecked tonight?
Wrecked turns all of this into one game on one phone: 1,800+ cards, rules that stack, chaos every 5 cards and a personal roast for everyone at the end.
