The 2026 Super Bowl Party Game that’s Fun for Everyone – Football Fans or Not!
The 2026 Edition of our “Fish Bowl” Super Bowl Party Game is here!
It’s our annual tradition to share this family-friendly game for football and non-football fans alike. Gambling is optional – it’s still pretty fun without wagering.
by Ed
It’s that time again – that time I update our Super Bowl game post, and this year it is a fresh intro with no reference to Kansas City, Philadelphia or any other recent Sumer Bowl teams…
Wait. <Checks Notes>. The New England Patriots. That sounds familiar for some reason…
Instead of being all, “Well, NFL fans – you hated on my beloved KC and Mahomes and now look what you get? New England Dynasty 2.0! With another young upstart QB who is probably going to be a fixture of Super Bowls for years to come!”. Did I say that I WASN’T going to be all that? I have to do better.
Okay, in all honesty, I don’t dislike this match-up, despite it being a recycled Super Bowl from 2014. It is nice to see all fresh names in the Super Fish Bowl game (despite its Patriot-ness), and I think most people were very sick of KC and Philly. What am I cheering for?
- Sam Darnold – This guy has played for so many teams – some truly dreadful coaches and franchises- and human redemption stories are nice anytime, but especially these days. For him to not only find success, but now be playing at a Super Bowl as the favourite, is pretty cool.
- The Seahawks in General. Seattle lost to the Tom Brady Patriots on a play call that was second guessed forever and ever after. Even though this is a completely different team, the chance for that franchise to shake that memory is exciting for them. They also have a defense that is historically great and one of the most exciting players in the NFL in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Lots to like
- The Patriot Elephant in the Room. Okay New England fans – I’ll grant you this: I think your team probably has the best chance to make this Super Bowl entertaining. They have a solid defense, enough offensive talent to make me believe they can put a few points up and a QB that, despite my built-in prejudices, is exciting to watch. There. I said it. Your team earned this spot and it isn’t terrible. If y’all are back here next year and in 2028, don’t expect me to be this charitable.
- The Halftime Show. I’m over 50 and live under a pop-music-rock so I’m always excited for a chance to have family bonding while my children tell me about a musician I have only a passing familiarity with. Green Day plays the kickoff show, so maybe I can reciprocate with some 90’s wisdom.
- OUR SUPER BOWL GAME! (Yes, I recycled this from last year!) If you didn’t just scroll down to the links, thanks very much for indulging my armchair sports writer bug for another year. Read On!
This game is the glue that will keep the Big Game interesting for you and your viewing party till the final whistle.
Don’t like either team? Perfect, we’ve got random stuff you can cheer for.
Game is a boring blowout? We’ve got you covered with individual player goals to chase.
Want Taylor Swift or Kelce-themed content? Oh, there’s a ticket for that too!
So what will your Super Bowl party look like this year?
Maybe just your household gathering to watch? Or maybe you are hosting a big get-together?
I am still going to provide versions of our Super Bowl Party Game that work for people who have others over and for those who party apart. The tools we found are so great! – I will keep posting the digital version because it will allow football fans who are spread out geographically to still play our goofy little game!
Or Non-Football fans for that matter.
Hey-not everyone loves, likes or even tolerates football. For them, Super Bowl Sunday is a tedious affair with little excitement other than eating greasy food, looking for a cool commercial or hoping the game will end in time for a good night’s sleep. (i.e. Robin and our kids)
For people like them, I’ve made this game – and it works! The consensus is it’s genuinely fun (even if you find football a bit ~meh~). And football fans will enjoy it, too.
It’s a pretty tall order, but this party game combines the best elements of football (big plays, scoring – team or individual) with other quirky stuff (things announcers say, who wins the coin toss) so that virtually the whole Super Bowl gives you something to cheer for (or gamble on).
What follows is our Annual Super Bowl Party game (and it doesn’t involve a matrix of gambling squares or any real football knowledge at all).
“Fish Bowl” Super Bowl Party Game
The game itself is loosely credited to my friend, Andy, who shared an updated copy every year for a while. He doesn’t claim ownership – a friend of his apparently concocted it – but I couldn’t find a single reference to a similar game anywhere online. So they get credit till we hear otherwise.
Why is this such a fun Super Bowl Party Game for everyone?
1) Well, first off you don’t have to know anything about football.
You pull tickets blindly and then roll with what you get. The ultimate winner is also chosen randomly.
2) You don’t have to wait until the game or quarter ends for things to cheer for.
If you have a few tickets, there’s a good chance that you’ll be watching for an event to happen on every single play.
3) You can play the game with or without a gambling component.
- The first time we played, party-goers each chipped in $10. The winner took home $60.
- A non-gambling alternative would be to have a prize of some sort for the winner.
- My buddy and aforementioned universally acknowledged game inventor Andy “sells” the individual tickets, allowing people to buy as many or as few as they like until they are all sold. You could still win it all by only buying one. And you don’t get to pick which ones you buy – you again have to draw blindly.
4) Even if the score gets out of hand (as it often does in the Super Bowl), this little game still gives you a reason to watch.
5) Football really is better when you have something to cheer for – this game gives you that.
We played it at a party a couple of years back and Robin and several other football-neutral folks enjoyed the game more than they ever had before.
How to play our Fish bowl Super Bowl Party Game:
1. Print the 4 Super Bowl “Fish Bowl” party game pages. The printable is in a box just below these instructions.
2. Cut out the tickets and fold. Place in a bowl. Come up with a prize of some sort. Money is popular but so boring. Play for “Party Clean-up duty” if no one has any ideas.
3. Figure out how many tickets each person at your party can draw. We’ve created 66 tickets, so if you’ve got a group of 8 people, each person can draw 8 tickets (with 2 extras to discard or “auction off” to party-goers who want more chances).
4. Everyone draws and secretly reads their own tickets.
5. Once the game starts, players watch in hopes that the events on their tickets take place. Whenever one of the events on your ticket happens, you write your name on the back and put it in the bowl. If, for instance, Patrick Mahomes (Yay!) throws a TD pass, then anyone holding that ticket writes their name on the back and places the ticket back into the bowl...and so on.
6. After the game, a ticket is drawn from the bowl to determine a winner, and that person takes home the prize.
(We’ve been sharing this game for a few years now!)
How to Play the Fishbowl Super Bowl Party Game (Digital Version):
- Have the Remote Party Coordinator use this link to generate random lists for all guests. I have it defaulting to 7, but you can scroll to the bottom and adjust the number of ‘Groups’ to however many people want to play. You can also edit the lists if you want everyone to get the same number of chances or add in your own.
- You can then use the share buttons to send out the lists publicly or simply copy and paste each Grouping of digital pull tickets into an email or text and send them out to your virtual guests.
- As events happen, people can text/tweet/email/DM the Party Coordinator their ticket, and that event gets manually added to a list in this Random Drawer (your digital ‘Fishbowl’).
- At the end of the game, the Party host/Coordinator can do the Random Draw and announce the winner or screen-share and draw so everyone can watch the digital excitement live.
Give it a shot – even if it is just you and the family sitting around. Pull some tickets and play for “No Chores” or “Sleep In” or whatever.
No one should find the Super Bowl Super Boring. This game will fix that.
Super Bowl parties need AMAZING food! Try these guaranteed crowd-pleasers…
And if you’re planning a party, check out more Easy and Delicious Party Food Recipes!
Is your family watching football this Thanksgiving? We’ve got a way to make watching the games fun for everyone: try playing our new Thanksgiving Football Pool Printable Game – truly fun for the whole family!
Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 25 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a Nutritionist and former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Do It Yourself, Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.
Thanks so much for continuing to share this game! You are the best! This will be our 3rd year in a row to play this at our annual Super Bowl party. Our friends enjoy the game at $5 for 3. Last year’s winner took $125 dollars home with him, and he’s already said he wants that money again!
My husband and I are looking forward to a fun time with friends but are just sad the Chiefs aren’t playing this year! Next year….
We LOVE that! Thanks so so much for letting us know, Jackie! It’s really fun for us to know that we’re helping other people have fun. 🙂
This will be our 3rd year playing this game. Our kids invite all of their friends and we have candy, drinks and random gifts for prizes. We draw after every touchdown and after each quarter and then randomly as the game goes on. Everyone usually ends up with at least one prize which is fun. We all love it so much. It keeps some of our less dedicated football fans interested in the game as well. Thank you so much for sharing!
We have played this game for the last two years at our annual Super Bowl party and it is a huge hit! Our guests expect this game now, so it has become a tradition at our party. Thank You! Your game was the first thing I looked up as I’m getting ready for our party on Sunday and it’s already printed, cut, and in the bowl ready to go. All the people attending are Chief fans, so let’s go Chiefs and make some history!! Three in a row!!
We have played this the last two years now and every year i have to try and find you again. Thank you for the fun times!!!
Thanks for sharing. I can hardly wait for the 2025 updated game this year. It is so much fun. Go Chiefs!
This looks like a lot of fun! Can’t wait until the new one is available, we want to try it this year!
My group loves to play games so looking forward to your 2025 version! What a clever idea!
You should make a generic version of this that’s not team-specific, for other game days 🙂 (or so you don’t have to redo it every year!)
That’s a great idea, Erica! Thanks for sharing 🙂
We did this last year and it was a huge hit! I am so excited to be able to do it again. Thank you so much for sharing it!
We love that, Jeanette! So happy you’ve made our game part of your Super Bowl tradition! 🙂
We have been hosting a Super Bowl party for years and are huge Chief fans. I found this game last year and we played it at our party of 28 and it was a hit! Not only did the Chiefs win but our winner took home over $125 dollars. I was hoping to find the updated game and you didn’t disappoint!! Thank you and Let’s Go Chiefs! Make it two in a row!!
We LOVE that, Jackie!!! The 2024 edition is live now – have so much fun! 🙂
Played this for a crowd of 8 at the 2023 Super Bowl party, I wasn’t sure if folks would get into it but we gave out 3 prizes (Cinnamon buns, tub of homemade Chex mix, and a gas gift card as we live out of town and all our friends have to drive out to our place). Everyone had a blast and got right into trying to complete their tickets! Will definitely become a new tradition 🙂
Oh wow! What an honour to be part of your fun traditions, Kayla. Thanks so very much for coming back and sharing with us! 🙂 See you next year!
Will this be updated?
Yes! The 2023 digital version didn’t update correctly – but it’s fixed now!
@frugalfamilytimes, you’re amazing!!!!!!
Can’t wait to play this year! It was by popular on demand for this years superbowl.
AWESOME!!! Thanks for letting us know, Cristina! Have fun!!
I have been coming here for the last few years for the printable sheets. It’s a HIT every year with our guests. Thanks for sharing!!
You’re so welcome, Chelcie! We love that our game is part of your tradition! 🙂
This is exactly what I was looking for! Can’t wait to play this! Go CHIEFS!!!
Yay! Have fun with it, Eva! 🙂
looking forward to trying this out on my crew !
Awesome, Marilyn! The 2023 Super Bowl Party Game edition will be out soon. 🙂
I too hope to see a 2023 version! How do I get an update via email?
Hi Eva! You can sign up for our newsletter here: https://www.subscribepage.com/thisdiylife
Will you be creating sheets for the upcoming 2023 Super Bowl?
Yes! We need to know who’s playing first – so expect the 2023 Super Bowl Party Game shortly after the playoffs. 🙂
@frugalfamilytimes, can you please let us know when you post the updated 2023 version thank you!
Yes! The 2023 digital version didn’t update correctly – but it’s fixed now!
This game was so much fun, it kept us on our toes checking stats. And amazingly it wasn’t the person with the most chances that won!!!
That’s AWESOME, Liz! We’re so glad you and your party had fun with the game. Thank you so much for coming back and letting us know! 🙂
I’ve been using your game for 3 years now…I really hope you never stop sharing — my family/friends love playing together especially since we all have young kids and they can leave at halftime and we can still play together!
So fun — I love this twist on superbowl ‘betting’! We usually have 8-10 who play and put in $10-$20 per person!
Brielle – you’ve made our day! We’re so glad to hear you and your guests love our game!!! We totally plan to make it every year, especially when we hear this! Have a blast at your party!!! 🙂
Thank you thank you for sharing this!!!! Youbtotally saved our super bowl party this year! We had a few neighbors over and nobody was particularly interested in either team, but this kept everyone engaged and rooting for both teams! Can’t wait to play it again next year!!! (Everyone is already requesting it)
We’re so glad our Super Bowl party game was a success for you, Mary! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know! It was a pretty meh game – so we’re happy we helped you have fun. 🙂
Oh Ed, just like you I was not the least bit disappointed to see NE lose! In fact, it did my heart good. Plus, I went to school in PA so I have a bit of a link there. That game sounds like so much fun! Will keep it in mind for future parties.
Have a great week.
Hugs, Lynn