Pizza Makers Prep For Super Bowl Blitz

Super Bowl Sunday Is Big Day For Pizza Makers, Too

(AP) 

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino's predicts game day sales of 1.5 million to 1.6 million pizzas at its 5,000 U.S. stores, up 36 percent over a normal Sunday, she said.

For Domino's, it's one of the year's top sales days, along with Halloween, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving Eve, she said.

Pizza Hut, part of Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc., expects to sell millions of pizzas on game day — its busiest day of the year — at its nearly 6,600 U.S. restaurants.

For pizza makers, preparations start days before kickoff. Pizza restaurants beef up their game-day work force, and Domino's even enlists some former employees to help crank out pies.

"Everyone on the payroll is there on Super Bowl Sunday working," Harville said.

Domino's isn't offering a Super Bowl deal, but has been pitching its offer of three medium pizzas with one topping each for $5 apiece.

"When you're expecting a crowd to come watch the game with you, that's a great way to give everybody a pizza of their choice," Harville said.

Pepperoni is typically the favorite topping, followed by sausage.

A lot depends on teamwork and execution to keep pace with demand, said Ferguson, who owns two Papa John's stores and is an area supervisor for a 49-store franchise in Florida.

"It can be crazy but a lot of fun," Ferguson said. "If the restaurant has not planned well or has some staffing woes, it can be treacherous. When it's executed well, it's one of the most fun nights we can have."

Pizza makers root for a close game because orders seem to mount, Harville said.

People's appetites especially drop off in the losing city of a lopsided score, she said.

Papa John's is trying to add to the suspense with its "Go Deep Challenge." If either team breaks the record for the longest touchdown pass in Super Bowl history, Papa John's will give a free large pan pepperoni pizza to anyone registering in advance on the company's Web site.

As of Tuesday, the online registrations for the contest totaled 189,023, he said.

And just like on the playing field after the game, there's plenty of celebrating in a pizza restaurant once all the orders have been filled.

"Everyone is hollering and high-fiving," Ferguson said.