Wing Bowl
| Wing Bowl | |
|---|---|
Wing Bowl XV | |
| Status | Inactive |
| Genre | Competitive eating competition |
| Date(s) | Friday before the Super Bowl |
| Frequency | Ended |
| Venue | Wells Fargo Center |
| Location(s) | Philadelphia |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | January 29, 1993 |
| Founders | Al Morganti, Angelo Cataldi |
| Most recent | February 2, 2018 |
| Attendance | 20,000+ |
| Leader | Commissioner - Jon Dorenbos |
| People | Last champion - Molly Schuyler |
| Sponsor | WTEL (AM) |
| Website | wingbowl |
Wing Bowl was an annual eating contest founded in 1993 by Philadelphia talk-radio hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti. The contest was first broadcast on WIP.
About 150 people attended Wing Bowl I (held in a hotel) in 1993 to see a competition between two contestants. The event pitted competitive eaters in a Buffalo wing eating contest. The Wing Bowl was traditionally held on the Friday before the Super Bowl. The event, which began as a radio promotion, grew to encompass television, the Internet, and a contest for women who were termed "the Wingettes."
From 2000 to 2018, the event was held at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, where they did live broadcasts on 94-WIP-FM. There were no television deals to broadcast the event live; however, a replay was usually shown on CW 57, Comcast SportsNet, or one of the other local stations within the following week. The Wing Bowl drew crowds of over 20,000.
The final Wing Bowl, Wing Bowl XXVI was held on February 2, 2018, and the winner was Molly Schuyler, who devoured a record 501 wings in a half hour.