Hosting a Super Bowl party is no easy feat, especially when the game pits two teams few of your guests really care about, like the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Unless you live near Seattle or Boston, the Super Bowl LX matchup is simply background noise for your party, a reason to gath er together and eat, drink and critique the commercials. But a Super Bowl party is still an American ritual, and you don’t want to spend the rest of the year wondering why yours was a dud. Here are 11 handy tips to make your Super Bowl bash the talk of the water cooler on Monday morning. 1. Keep the guest list small and nonpartisan. Only invite friends and relatives who are willing to discuss Bill Belichick and Tom Brady without punches being thrown. Hating the Patriots is one of the few things in life most Americans agree on, but neither Belichick nor Brady will be on the sidelines this time. Should Patriots fans be invited? Well, they’re technically human beings and deserve a chance to mingle. But don’t invite Dave Portnoy just to be safe. 2. Buy plenty of ice and put the beer in a cooler outside or in the garage. This will ensure that the fridge is reserved for all the food and that the vaping crowd will congregate outside the house near the beer. In case you think you’ll forget, tape a handwritten sign on the fridge door to remind you: Food in. Ice out. 3. Make sure the hors d’oeuvres are ready for kickoff. Chips and dip are fine, but get creative. I recommend my Uncle Willie’s famous bacon-wrapped bacon bits recipe. Add 4 cups of bacon bits with 1 cup of melted butter. Mold into tiny balls and refrigerate for a half-hour. Wrap with bacon strips and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Only serve this tasty treat if you have more than one bathroom in your house, and if possible, rent a portable bidet. 4. Hide the remote. Keep the volume at a reasonable level and don’t let anyone try to convince you to turn it up so you can hear Cris Collinsworth or that funny Super Bowl commercial with a celebrity influencer they heard about on Instagram. Super Bowl commercials feature AI, weight-loss drugs and celebs from George Clooney to Kendall Jenner 5. Squares are not optional. Every Super Bowl party has to have a sheet for squares, as required by law in all 50 states. Keep it affordable at between $10-$25 per square, unless your party is being held on the North Shore. Reminder: Don’t let your brother-in-law handle the money. 6. Do not bring up the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) leaves the field after the loss to the Rams in overtime in an NFC divisional-round playoff game Jan. 18, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Show some empathy for Bears fans at the party who still might not be over the interception that sealed their fate in the overtime loss to the Rams in the divisional-round playoff game. If someone does bring up the Bears, be considerate and change the subject to something less touchy, like immigration or Jeff Bezos. 7. Let the kids act as servers, and put them on the “super” cleanup committee. They already live there, so might as well make them do something productive. 8. Provide alternative halftime viewing venues in other rooms. Not everyone will care to watch Bad Bunny, the halftime-show performer whose hit songs are mostly in Spanish. Fortunately, Kid Rock will be headlining an “all-American” halftime show for Turning Point USA that is billed as an alternative for “folks who love America.” Set up a computer in the kids’ room for Kid Rock fans. For those guests who love America but still hate Kid Rock and don’t understand Bad Bunny, set up an old Zenith in the basement for Puppy Bowl XXII on Animal Planet. What can viewers expect from Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance? 9. Don’t scrimp on the food. Whether it’s wings or taquitos or sliders, make way more than you need and don’t worry about the leftovers. There’s nothing worse than a party where the food runs out early and you’re DoorDashing during the halftime show. And don’t forget the desserts. Macaroons shaped like the heads of Bad Bunny or Kid Rock will delight or disgust your guests. 10. Invent a drinking game to keep guests interested if the game gets out of hand. Everyone enjoys a fun drinking game that takes them back to their college days. The annual Taylor Swift drinking game is canceled due to the Kansas City Chiefs not playing. But how about taking a drink every time Collinsworth asks “Was that a catch?” or every time Mike Tirico mentions Snoop Dogg is an NBC correspondent at the Milan Cortina Winter Games? Remember to have a designated driver or rideshare at the ready. 11. Drop subtle hints when it’s time to leave. Getting rid of the Super Bowl stragglers is awkward. Some want to stay for the postgame trophy ceremony, but my rule of thumb is that it’s time to go when the winning quarterback gives credit to the man upstairs. You don’t want to end the evening by kicking people out, but you also don’t want anyone passing out on your couch when you have to work in the morning. The best advice is to power off the router and inform the remaining guests the WiFi is down and they probably won’t be able to get more than one bar on their phones. If that doesn’t work, tell them there’s no more alcohol or bacon-wrapped bacon bits, and that the toilet is clogged. They’ll quickly take the hint. If they wake up Monday and forgot who won, you’ll know it was a successful Super Bowl party. ...read more read less