The Super Bowl is upon us. It’s the biggest sporting event in America and one of the most watched sporting event in the entire world each year. Many people meet up together in bars, homes and other places to celebrate and cheer on their favorite team and watch all the commercials. However, for years, the NFL has prohibited Churches from hosting a Super Bowl Party at their Church for legal purposes. So, Churches had to get creative if they wanted to host a Super Bowl party. They would call it the “Soup”er Bowl, Super Bash, Big Game Party, or something very similar to those in order to get around the legal restrictions.
Thankfully, Churches are now able to host Super Bowl parties legally. So, now that they can host these get togethers, what can your Church do on Super Bowl Sunday to provide a safe, fun and life changing experience? Here are some questions to ask and things to consider as you prepare a Super Bowl Party.
4 Questions to Ask During Planning:
Whose party is it for? Is it for the youth group, young adults, families or the whole Church? Deciding who it is for will directly impact what you plan on doing and how you promote it.
How will you promote it? Promotion and getting the word out is really important to the success of the event. After all, if people do not know you are having a Super Bowl Party in advanced, people will make other plans. It is pretty common for 
people to watch the game with a group of friends. So, get the word out. Use social media, emails, announcements during Church and even paper fliers to hand out. The more you can share about the event, the more likely people will be interested in coming to your Church rather than staying home or going somewhere else.
What will you have for food? Will the Church provide all the food? Will you make it a pot-luck? Will it be a combination of both? Wings and pizza are common food items for Super Bowl Sunday, but you can also order subs or make your own. There are plenty of options you can choose to do for food.
What will you do during halftime? The Super Bowl Halftime show is always pretty popular as the NFL tries to big named artists perform. However, these shows are not always the most family friendly (remember the Wardrobe malfunction?). Create your own halftime show where you play some fun games together, do some raffles and have someone share about Christ or a short testimony. Halftime is a great opportunity for you to share about Christ to the group. Here is how you can make your halftime show a hit.
In order for your Super Bowl Party to be successful, you have to decide who it's for, how you can promote it, and what you will do during halftime. These are vital decisions to be made. Click To Tweet3 Things to Consider:
How can you present Christ? Whether this is for families, just students or other groups of people, you have the perfect opportunity to share about Christ as some point during the Super Bowl. You have their full attention for the Gospel. And, it would be a wasted opportunity if you didn’t share about Jesus in some way. Sharing the Gospel before the game or during halftime would be the ideal times.
After Halftime bailout. No matter how great your Super Bowl party is, after halftime, people will gradually start to leave. For starters, it usually runs til 9:30 pm or later on the East Coast and kids have school the next day. And, if this event is open to families, young kids will be ready for bed by 8. So, don’t be offended if people start leaving before the game is over. For planning purposes, that means that you shouldn’t have many structured plans after halftime. You can start gradually cleaning up as the game winds down so cleanup isn’t as much after the game.
Remember the NFL Guidelines. In order to avoid any issues with the NFL and accused of copyright infringement, make sure your Church need follow these three simple rules:
- Churches must show the game live on equipment they use in the course of ministry at their premises.
- Churches cannot charge admission for the party. The NFL has stated, however, that churches may take up a donation to offset the cost of the event.
- Churches may not use the NFL Shield, Super Bowl or Club logos to promote their party.
Conclusion
The Super Bowl can be one of the best outreach events you can do all year. Even if you don’t have party planned yet, you still have time to do one. Make sure you have a clear plan for a group of people you choose have the party for. The more organized you can be, the better experience it will be. The better the experience, the more likely people will can create lasting memories where people have a blast but also hear about Christ for maybe the first time.
What will you start incorporating today? Before you finish reading this post, write down a quick action plan that you can start implementing today so that you can avoid social media mistakes. Share them below or on social media.
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