The annual event of all events is upon us in no time: the Super Bowl. Super Bowl LV, the 55th Super Bowl of the National Football League championship is scheduled for Sunday, February 7th, 2021. It will be played in Tampa Florida, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Raymond James Stadium. Many of us wait all year for throwing a killer Super Bowl party, and as we continue to navigate COVID-19, it might be difficult to picture how you’re going to enjoy the celebration.

But if 2020 taught us anything, it’s to go with the flow! There’s no telling what could happen with the COVID-19 pandemic still peaking across the country, and what the implications could be for the game itself. There’s speculation across the sporting world about what will happen when it comes to a stadium of fans, mask-wearing, or a player testing positive for the coronavirus in the days before the game. Luckily, since attending a large Super Bowl party or heading out to your favorite bar is out of the question, the best you can do is work what’s within your control; throwing your own Super Bowl LV party within your household or quarantine circle!

At Tent Guys, we have everything you need to throw an unforgettable Super Bowl party. From chairs and tents, to coolers and mini bars, we know how to throw a party, while ensuring that you can keep your guests safe by planning smaller guest lists, practicing safe food handling, and enforcing mask-wearing and social distancing. Super Bowl LV may look a little different this year, but you can still enjoy a great game and a wonderful time with your family and close friends!

Stay informed about COVID-19.

The best way to plan ahead and abide by guidelines is to stay up to date with local and state guidelines. Many areas are enforcing limits on in-person gatherings, even if they’re small. Check your local and state guidelines to see what type of gathering will be safe, and whether you should move your celebration online. Organizations like the WHO and the CDC are the most trusted sources for helping you figure out the best practices for navigating COVID-19. 

Start Planning Ahead for your Super Bowl LV Party

Paring down the guest list

Unlike years in the past, expect that your Super Bowl party will have to be a little smaller this time. Depending on the size of your party space and whether or not you’re hosting outside, you will need to do a little research on your local guidelines to determine how many people you can safely host. We strongly encourage that you play it safer this year, by sticking to your quarantine circle of friends, or people in your household. 

If you’re hosting in your home or backyard, break out the tape measurer, and walk out the 6’ distances. Depending on how many times you can space out 6’ should help you determine the number of guests you can safely host, alongside local small gathering guidelines. 

Fun fact: The Raymond James Stadium holds 65,000 people, but in 2020, the Buccaneers weren’t even able to host more than 20,000 fans at a game due to the pandemic. 

Inviting your guests

Whether you decide on virtual or in-person, we think this is the perfect year to go over-the-top with cheesy, fun invitations to your Super Bowl party. You can find fun downloadable templates on sites like Pinterest (here’s one for the commercial and food fans, here’s a fun evite countdown for the football fanatic)

Pro tip: Ask your guests to RSVP, and follow-up if you don’t receive an answer. This will help you be able to safely plan for the number of guests that you’re hosting. 

Should guests bring food over? 

From what we know of COVID-19 right now, studies show that in ideal conditions the virus can live on surfaces for up to 72 hours. However, most experts agree that contracting the virus from touching objects is relatively low. 

If guests bring food over, it should be relatively safe if every dish was prepared with washed hands and cleaned surfaces. It would be most ideal if the food is individually portioned, so that you can avoid buffet-style serving. Reusable containers packed with food and quarantined for three days prior will ensure maximum safety for your event. 

This is not the year for a buffet snacks table, unfortunately.

While the Super Bowl brings community chips, dips, and veggie trays to mind, platters and shared bowls open to anyone serving themselves is not the move. Instead, if you must have a table lined with all of the food, opt for designated people to serve the dishes to avoid excessive touching and germ-spreading. For snack foods, Ziplock bags will be your best friend this year, or opt for Costco-sized mini-bags of chips, cookies, or trail mix.

Make sure that your disposable serving ware is also individually packaged.

What You Need for Your Socially Distanced Super Bowl Party

Throw a neighborhood tailgate party.

Since we’ve missed out on tailgating all season, why not throw a tailgating party with your neighbors before the big game? As possibly one of the safest ideas, each family can decorate their vehicle’s tailgate or set up a tent in their front yard, hang out in their driveway, and eat their own household snacks, while celebrating with neighbors from a distance. It could be fun to walk or drive through the neighborhood to see the creative sports fans’ décor and cheer, and a way to reconnect with neighbors you haven’t had a chance to see in a while. Plus, if you ask everyone to try to decorate their trunks, porch, or front yard only with things from inside their home (i.e. not going out to buy new stuff), it can be a truly creative and fun endeavor.

Don’t forget, you can add your team’s flag to the top of our 10×10 High Peak tent!

What you’ll need: 

• 10×10 High Peak Tent
• 6’ Rectangle Table
• 60”x120” tablecloths in your team’s colors

Fun fact: Ticket packages to attend the Super Bowl in-person start at $6750 and go beyond $10,000+. You typically have to purchase tickets a year in advance, before you even know what teams are playing. Tickets are currently being sold as normal, but there may be restrictions on the number of fans who can attend in person.

Throw a backyard Super Bowl party!

We stayed at home in 2020, and we’ll continue to stay at home! Who says you can’t transform your backyard into the ultimate game day haven? This year, you can have total control over your party, from bringing your indoor creature comforts outside, watching the game with your pets at your side, or just enjoying the walk from the backyard to the fridge or bathroom with no wait lines. 

If you’re inviting a couple of friends to your backyard Super Bowl party, you’ll want to make sure everyone has what they need to have a great time. To start, you’ll want a big enough tent to host your guests, while not consuming your entire backyard. Our 20×20 option is just the right size for a handful of guests. Add the sidewalls and doors, and you’ll even have a blank wall to project the big game against, if that’s the route you take. 

While in the past, a “good” host wouldn’t expect guests to bring over anything, it’s fair to say that the societal norms have shifted, so why should your party be any different? You can provide guests with individual cans or bottled drinks, rather than beverage dispensers and cups, or play it even safer by requesting that guests bring their own beverages in small coolers. You could also keep a large cooler available full of ice if guests bring over wine bottles or boxed 6 or 12-packs they want to keep cool.

The Super Bowl is hours-long, so provide your guests with our most comfortable chair option that has padded cushions. If you have a tight budget or won’t have the next day to fold and stack all the chairs to clean up, you could opt-out of renting chairs and instead ask your guests to bring their own camp chairs. Otherwise, our cocktail tables are a great idea for the guests who are too excited to sit during the game anyways; they’ll have a place to set down their drinks and food, and can still jump around, yell, and cheer for their team.

What you’ll need:

• 20×20 Tent
• Door Sidewall
• Solid Sidewall
• Low Top Cocktail Tables
• 96” tablecloths in your team’s colors
• White padded chairs
• 120 QT Cooler

February is notoriously cold, so bring on the heaters and back-up power!

While watching football in the cold is half of the fun, but if you’re used to throwing your party inside and moving it outdoors this year, don’t fret! We have everything you need to stay warm through all four quarters. If you’re hosting in a tent, you’ll want the 80K BTU heater running to keep the tent toasty. Our patio heaters are for outdoor use, and a great way to encourage social distancing outside if you provide guests heaters spread 6 feet apart. 

If there’s even a possibility that the power could go out, this isn’t a year where you can just hop to a bar or a friend’s house to watch the game. You’ll be the real MVP this year by ensuring the party keeps going with our 2200 Generator this year.  

What you’ll need:

• Patio heaters
• Heater, 80K BTU
• Generator 2200 Watt (quiet)

Fun fact: The Weeknd will be performing at Super Bowl 55! He’s a three-time Grammy winner with songs ranging from upbeat pop to mellow, crooning R&B tunes. As you’re hosting outside, you’ll definitely enjoy singing along to his lyrics, “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you. But I love it!”

Rent or purchase a projector or bring the TV outside

If you have a detached garage in your yard, a covered patio, or are planning to rent a tent, there’s no reason you can’t move your TV outdoors! You’ll just want to ensure the TV has a safe spot to sit or be mounted, protected from any rain, snow, wind, or cold temperatures (electronics do not like extreme temperatures). There are also local businesses you can rent a projector from, but you may be better off financially just purchasing a projector from Amazon or Walmart. With a solid background, whether that’s your house, a tent wall, or setting up a screen, a projector can give you a larger image and broader visual access so no one has to huddle around a TV. Obviously, don’t forget about sound equipment either! With our 100 ft drop cords, you can bring the game safely outside.

What you’ll need:

• 100 ft drop cord

Fun fact: As the most branded event of all events, sponsors who usually leap at the chance to take part in the festivities in-person at the Super Bowl are hopping off the bandwagon this year due to safety concerns. Most notably, AT&T, Bud Light, and USAA are not hosting in-person activities.

More tips to keep your event safe

Opt for take-out food.

On Super Bowl Sunday, 1 in 7 Americans will order takeout. It is the most popular day of the year to order take out! Since it limits personal contact with the food among guests, make sure you plan ahead if you want food delivered to your home.

Fun fact: Americans spend more than $50 million on food in the four days leading up to the Super Bowl. So if you splurge on takeout this year, don’t feel guilty – we’re all dropping dollars to celebrate with great food, anyways! 

Think ahead for high-touch items like condiments, and get creative. 

You want to avoid items that could be touched multiple times, like a ketchup or mustard bottle. Instead, snag some disposable condiment cups (like these), fill them ahead of time, and make sure you have more than enough for each person. These containers also work great for making Jello shots!

Make an NFL-themed mask

While we don’t know which teams are set to play in Super Bowl LV yet, it’s never a bad time to show off pride for your favorite NFL team by creating a mask! The CDC has complete and easy sew and new-sew tutorials you can follow to create a mask that will impress all of your friends. Who wouldn’t want to match their favorite jersey to their mask?

Set up a sanitation station and designate a bathroom for guests.

Don’t forget to provide your guests with access to hand-washing, anti-bacterial soaps, sanitizer, and paper towels. You may also want to designate one bathroom for guests only, preferably close to the door, to limit traffic through your house. 

Contact Tent Guys today to score a touchdown at your Super Bowl LV party this February!