Sports: NFL Lockout Could Destroy Chicken Wing Industry!

An extended NFL lockout would be devastating to the chicken wing industry, which has already seen prices drop precipitously this year, the chief executive of Sanderson Farms Inc (SAFM.O) said.“It would kill wings, it would be terrible on wings,” Joe Sanderson said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit on Monday.
Chicken wings are popular fare at sports bars, especially on fall and winter Sundays when the National Football League has most of its games.
After weeks of deliberations NFL team owners and players have not reached agreements on a number of labor issues, including pay and profit sharing. A federal court will hear an antitrust suit filed by NFL players on April 6.

Wholesale chicken wing prices generally run up in the weeks ahead of the league’s Super Bowl each February. This year, however, prices have been pressured by too many chickens on the lots.

Wholesale prices for chicken wings in Georgia were $1.04 per pound just ahead of this year’s big game, down from $1.74 per pound a year earlier. This week, wing prices plunged to 95 cents per pound, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
-Reuters