Game Day Party Ideas

This game day party is perfect for football lovers! 

I can’t believe it’s finally the week of the big game! I’ve shared tons of football party ideas this year from this kid-friendly football party to these 25 football party games and even a DIY PVC pipe field goal post. If you didn’t believe me before that my family loves football, I bet you do now. Well today I’m sharing one final football party that’s more geared toward young adults or adults.

And this one is dedicated to my good friend Tilde who was in town visiting from Denmark this weekend. She was one of my best friends our freshman year in college, and I just loved going to college football games with her. It’s been over ten years since we’ve been to a football game together, so I thought it would be fun to setup a simple football party table to reminisce on those fun days while she was here last weekend, complete with her favorite drink, Coca-Cola, throughout the table.

Football Party Decor

Rather than doing team specific colors, I used typical football colors – green, brown, black, and white – so you can use these ideas for any game. I covered the table with a simple football field plastic tablecloth and continued the football field theme to my beverage bucket. Behind the table I hung a fun football banner that incorporated the football field theme, black and white referee theme, and overall football theme.

Since the banner I purchased was wider than my table, I cut it to size and then cut the tips of the extra pennants to create my own miniature banner to hang on the field goal uprights I made out of empty Coca-Cola cans. Last but not least I used these football printables and these football bottle labels to tie the look all together.

Football Party Food and Drinks

I kept the food and drinks fairly basic with a bunch of finger foods that guests can pick up and eat in one or two bites. I’m all about trying all of the food at parties, so I like to keep portion sizes small so people have room for a little bit of everything.

I started it off with a football party staple – pizza. I cooked up a DiGiorno® Pepperoni STUFFED CRUST® Pizza and cut it into pizza bars that would be easy for people to take one or two. In addition, I made Ritz Cracker nachos (recipe below) by topping Ritz Crackers with shredded chicken, black beans, and cheese. Nachos are one of my favorites and using the Ritz Crackers makes for a fun alternative to your typical tortilla chips.

I added containers of salsa and guacamole for people that wanted to top their nachos with sauce. I’m so picky when it comes to food that I always like to give people the option to add things on rather than making people who don’t like them take them off.

And serving the sauce on the side keeps your Crackers from getting soggy from the salsa juice. And finally, I served broccoli cheese bites (recipe coming soon!) topped with big game flags from the printable set. I love the broccoli cheese bites with this setup because the green and yellow colors go perfectly with my party decor.

Last but not least, I put out bottles of Coca-Cola and water in my football field beverage bucket. I covered them with the bottle labels and added some green and black striped straws to finish off the design.

Football Party Games

I came up with two fun games just for this year’s party but if you don’t like either of these games, you can always play football party bingo, commercial bingo, or one of these other 25 football party games.

Create Your Own Commercial Contest

Everyone knows that a ton of people watch the big game for the commercials. So during your party (I recommend halftime) split your group into teams and assign each team a brand. Give them a time limit such as 10 minutes to come up with a 30 second commercial for their brand. You can add in your own rules (e.g., family friendly, must include some sort of dancing, create a commercial using a particular theme) or let them be as creative as they want.

Once the ten minutes is up, have each team present their commercial to everyone else and have everyone vote on their favorite commercial in four categories – most clever, funniest, most creative use of product, and best overall. I’ve even created free printable voting cards that you can print out and use for your party. Give each winning team a football themed prize like the ones in this list.

Download the Free Printables

If you’re ready to download the free printables to use this idea, simply click the button below or click here.

Risk the Ritz

This game is fun because it’s a fun way to “bet” on a game without actually betting any money. Before the football game starts, give everyone a cup full of the same amount of Ritz Crackers. You’ll also need an empty bucket or bowl that will hold quite a few Ritz Crackers.

When the football game starts, you start the game by naming a common football play such as a touchdown, field goal, punt, first down, etc. Start off the game by putting one Ritz Cracker into the bucket then passing it to the person on your left. Guests continue passing the bucket and adding one Ritz Cracker to the bucket before passing it along to the next guest.

Whoever is holding the bucket when the named football play happens wins all of the Ritz Crackers in the bucket. So for instance, if the play was a touchdown and I was holding the bucket when one of the teams scored a touchdown, I would add all of the Ritz Crackers in the bucket into my own cup.

The twist is that people can decide whether or not to join in on each round by either adding a Ritz Cracker into the bucket when it reaches them or by passing. If they pass, they are out for that entire round and cannot play (or win) until someone wins the current bucket full.

Someone may choose to do this if there is a large group of people and they don’t think the bucket will get back to them before a first down happens or because it’s almost the end of the game and they don’t think another touchdown is going to happen.

Or whatever reason they might choose, it’s their choice to risk their Ritz Crackers or not. Have a prize for the person with the most Ritz Crackers at the end of the game and the person who won the bucket the most often.

Football Party Shopping List

Now it’s time to host your own party! I’ve created a printable shopping list of everything you’ll need to throw your own football party for the big game on Sunday! Click on the image below to download the printable version.

Ritz Cracker Nachos

Ingredients (amount is dependent on the number of people serving): 

• Ritz Crackers
• Shredded chicken
• Black beans
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Salsa (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Layout one flat layer of Ritz Crackers on a microwaveable serving tray.
2. Cover layer with first shredded chicken, then black beans, then finally cheddar cheese. If you’d like other toppings, add before the shredded cheese.
3. Microwave on high for one minute or until cheese is melted and toppings are hot.
4. Serve with salsa and guacamole for dipping.