Wing Bowl was an annual eating contest founded in 1993 by

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

talk-radio hosts

Angelo Cataldi Angelo Anthony Cataldi Jr. (born March 13, 1951) is a sports radio personality for 94.1 WIP in Philadelphia. Cataldi began his career as a sports journalist for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. In 1989, he began hosting The WIP Morning Show, which ...

and

Al Morganti Michael "Al" Morganti is an American journalist. He is an analyst who has covered the National Hockey League (NHL) and international competitions. He is currently a pre- and post-game analyst for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL for games broadca ...

. The contest was first broadcast on

WIP WIP or WiP may refer to: Political parties * Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta, a political party in Alberta, Canada * Western Independence Party of Manitoba, a former Canadian provincial political party * Western Independence Party of Sas ...

. About 150 people attended Wing Bowl I (held in a hotel) in 1993 to see a competition between two contestants. The event pitted

competitive eater Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions c ...

s in a

Buffalo wing A Buffalo wing in American cuisine is an unbreaded chicken wing section ( flat or drumette) that is generally deep-fried and then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serv ...

eating contest. The Wing Bowl was traditionally held on the Friday before the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

. The event, which began as a radio promotion, grew to encompass television, the Internet, and a contest for women who were termed "the Wingettes." From 2000 to 2018, the event was held at Philadelphia's

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo Cen ...

, where they did live broadcasts on 94-WIP-FM. There were no television deals to broadcast the event live; however, a replay was usually shown on CW 57,

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

, or one of the other local stations within the following week. The Wing Bowl drew crowds of over 20,000. The final Wing Bowl, Wing Bowl XXVI was held on February 2, 2018 and the winner was

Molly Schuyler Molly Schuyler is an American competitive eater. In 2013, she signed with the competitive eating organization All Pro Eating. She has stated that she "usually swallows her food whole." Career In August 2012, she became the first woman to comple ...

, who devoured a record 501 wings in a half hour.

Background

Wing Bowl was the brainchild of WIP radio host Al Morganti, who came up with the idea when it became apparent the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

were not going to make the Super Bowl anytime soon. It is also suggested that Morganti was fed up with the Buffalo Bills going to the Super Bowl and not winning. The first Wing Bowl was held in the lobby of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Center City. Carmen Cordero walked away with the inaugural title, receiving a

hibachi The is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is either round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is believed date ...

as his prize. Since then, media coverage has grown to the point where every one of the major Philadelphia television stations has covered the event. The ABC 6, CBS Channel 3 and Fox 29 affiliates all aired live reports from the event during their morning news. Features on the event have appeared in the ''

Courier-Post The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscriber ...

'', ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' and '' Daily News'' as well as a host of newspapers in the surrounding counties. The event has been featured on ESPN and the syndicated television shows ''

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'' and ''

The Montel Williams Show ''The Montel Williams Show'' (also known as ''Montel'') is an American syndicated tabloid talk show, hosted by Montel Williams, which ran from 1991 to 2008. On January 30, 2008, the end of production of new episodes of ''The Montel Williams Sh ...

''. Segments on Wing Bowl have appeared on TV newscasts in cities throughout the country. Several Wing Bowl contestants, including "El Wingador," competed in Fox's "

Glutton Bowl ''The Glutton Bowl'' (or ''The Glutton Bowl: The World's Greatest Eating Competition'') is a two-hour competitive eating special that was broadcast Fox Network on February 21, 2002 and was sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive ...

" in the spring of 2002. The 2007 Wing Bowl was carried on

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channel. Then

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

and future

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

attended Wing Bowls II, III, IV and VI, where he presented the winner with a "

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...

" trophy. Other celebrities who have appeared include retired heavyweight boxer

Randall "Tex" Cobb Randall Craig "Tex" Cobb (born May 7, 1950) is an American actor, martial artist, and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Widely considered to possess one of the greatest chins of all time, Cobb was a brawler wh ...

, former

76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

President

Pat Croce Pasquale "Pat" Croce (born November 2, 1954) is an American entrepreneur, sports team executive and owner, author, and TV personality. He served as team president of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Philadelphia 76ers from 1996 to 2001 ...

, former

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

manager

Larry Bowa Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. Bowa went on to ma ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from ...

, and others. Major-league

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

Eric Gregg Eric Eugene Gregg (May 18, 1951 – June 5, 2006) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1975 to 1999. He was known for being a pioneering black umpire, for his longtime weight problems, and for h ...

served as the "Commissioner" of Wing Bowl from its second year until his death from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on 5 June 2006. From December 2006 to 2013,

was the second commissioner.

Jon Dorenbos Jonathan Paul Dorenbos (; born July 21, 1980) is a former American football long snapper and magician (illusionist), magician. He played college football at the UTEP Miners football, University of Texas at El Paso and was signed by the Buffalo Bi ...

served as the last commissioner from 2014, and served the final 5 editions.

Qualifications

(As per Wing Bowl Commissioner

) Entry into Wing Bowl can be gained in two ways, the first of which is successfully performing an "eating stunt" on air during ''The Morning Show'' at the 94 WIP studios in

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

, with Al Morganti as judge. Stunts have included eating 20 cups of cooked

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...

, eating of creamed spinach with of

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of years ...

, and eating five

Big Mac The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh Region, Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's fl ...

s. The stunt must be completed within a time limit negotiated between the contestant and Morganti. Morganti, known to be a tough judge, has disallowed stunts that involved what he considers "cheating", such as dipping bread into a beverage to make it easier to swallow, or breaking up a food item into constituent parts for easier chewing (such as separating hot dogs from their buns). He is also tough on contestants who suggest a stunt involving liquid consumption; ''The Morning Show'' hosts prefer eating stunts over drinking stunts. If a person offers to perform a drinking stunt, it must be compelling to the hosts, such as Wing Bowl XIV champion

Joey Chestnut Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. As of 2022, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He is a California native and resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut's height is ; his weigh ...

's offer to drink of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

. The hosts deemed it not difficult enough, but, fortunately for Chestnut, former champion

Bill "El Wingador" Simmons William Simmons (born November 1, 1961), known as El Wingador, is a competitive eater, author, entrepreneur, speaker and former member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). Simmons achieved notoriety after winning Philade ...

was present and declared the stunt to have a high level of difficulty, upon which the hosts accepted his offer, with a five-minute time limit to complete the challenge. The other way to gain entry to Wing Bowl is to win a "Wingoff." A "Wingoff" is a 10-minute eating contest held at a Philadelphia or

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

bar hosted by former Philadelphia Eagle and WIP Host Hugh Douglas and WIP Personality Marc Farzetta. The "Wingoffs" began in 2005 when 610 WIP decided to spoof the Big 5 Philadelphia area universities basketball teams. The winner of these "Wingoffs" gain automatic entry into the Wing Bowl.

Cancellation

WIP announced on October 30, 2018 that event was being canceled after 26 years because the time for doing so felt right after the Eagles won

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. According to WIP program director Spike Eskin, "When Wing Bowl started ... a large part of it was the lead-up to the Super Bowl never involved the Eagles. We just wanted to get to the promised land."

Champions

Past Wing Bowls

2007 - Wing Bowl XV

Wing Bowl 15 is known as "Philadelphia Against The World". Tickets sold out on the first day of sales. Wing Bowl 15 was presented by Philadelphia Park Casino.

was this year's Wing Bowl Commissioner. Pat took the helm after the tragic loss of WIP's dear friend

2008 - Wing Bowl XVI

Going into Wing Bowl 16 WIP Host, Angelo Cataldi, billed it as the greatest Wing Bowl ever. With El Wingador coming out of retirement to square off against the number one eater in the world, Joey Chestnut. Wing Bowl 16 also featured a change in chicken wing providers, which contributed to the shattering of the elusive 200 wing mark.

2009 - Wing Bowl XVII

Unlike the past years in which professional eaters were allowed to participate, Wing Bowl 17 on January 30, 2009 at the

Wachovia Center The Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the ...

, was an all Amateur eater event, promoting eaters from the local neighborhoods in and around the Philadelphia area. There are 25 eaters in Wing Bowl 17, with Wing Bowl 8 Champion "Tollman Joe" participating. This marks the first occasion that Wing Bowl creator

gave a special dispensation that Tollman Joe did not have to perform an eating stunt to be in the Wing Bowl field, since he has been the only amateur to beat

. Jonathan "Super" Squibb of Winslow Twp., NJ, took the Wing Bowl 17 title of Wing Bowl Champion by eating 203 wings.

2010 - Wing Bowl XVIII

Wing Bowl 18 took place on February 5, 2010. Jonathan Squibb finished with a total of 238 wings to win his second Wing Bowl in a row. Squibb finished 93 wings ahead of the second place finisher and won a

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...

truck and a championship ring as prizes.

2011 - Wing Bowl XIX

Jonathan Squibb won for the third consecutive year by 255 eating wings to win Wing Bowl 19. Squibb's total broke the record of 241 wings set by

at Wing Bowl 16 (2008) and was one wing more than second place finisher

was able to eat. Squibb won $20,000 in cash and 2011 Dodge Ram truck.

2012 - Wing Bowl XX

Takeru Kobayashi , also known as Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, is a Japanese competitive eater. Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", Kobayashi is a six-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and is widely credited with popularizing the spor ...

set a new competition record by eating 337 wings to win Wing Bowl 20. Kobayashi's total was 82 wings more than the previous competition record set by Jonathan Squibb. Squibb also broke his own record, but finished in second with 271 wings. Kobayashi won $20,000 in cash and a championship ring as prizes.

2013 - Wing Bowl XXI

Wing Bowl 21 was won by James McDonald who ate a total of 287 wings. McDonald finished five wings ahead of three-time champion Jonathan Squibb to win $20,000 in cash and a $7,500 championship diamond ring.

2014 - Wing Bowl XXII

won Wing Bowl 22 by eating a total of 363 wings. Schuyler's total broke the previous record of 337 set at Wing Bowl 20 by Takeru Kobayashi.

Patrick Bertoletti Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti is an American competitive eater from Chicago. Competitive eating career 2007 On January 2, 2007, he became the first person to complete the Sasquatch Burger Contest at Bigfoot Lodge Cafe in Memphis, Tennessee. ...

finished second with 356 wings. Schuyler received the $22,000 top prize for her win.

2015 - Wing Bowl XXIII

The winner of Wing Bowl 23 was Patrick Bertoletti. Bertoletti ate 444 wings to set a new Wing Bowl record and finished four wings ahead of defending champion Molly Schuyler. Bertoletti received a Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle, $10,000 in cash, and a one-of-a-kind commemorative ring for winning.

2016 - Wing Bowl XXIV

Molly Schuyler won Wing Bowl 24 with a total of 429 wings to finish 21 wings ahead of second place finisher Patrick Bertoletti. Schuyler won a 2016 Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle, $10,000 in cash, and a custom made Wing Bowl 24 championship ring as prizes.

2017 - Wing Bowl XXV

Bob "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt won Wing Bowl 25 with a count of 409 wings to finish ahead of David T. "Wings & Things" Brunelli by 23 wings. Celebrity guests included actor/rapper,

Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo ...

and former pro-wrestler,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

. Shoudt won $10,000 in cash, a

Hyundai Santa Fe The Hyundai Santa Fe ( ko, 현대 싼타페) is a sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 2000. It is named after the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was introduced for the 2001 model year as Hyundai ...

, a ring and a medal as prizes.

2018 - Wing Bowl XXVI

Molly Schuyler broke her own record and devoured an event-record 501 wings to win the title. She received $5,000, a 2018

Hyundai Sonata The Hyundai Sonata is a mid-size car that has been manufactured by Hyundai since 1985. The first generation Sonata, which was introduced in 1985, was a facelifted Hyundai Stellar with an engine upgrade, and was withdrawn from the market in two ...

, a ring and medal. "Wings & Things" was 2nd, 105 behind her.

References

External links

Official Wing Bowl 19 Website

Philly.com Coverage of Wing Bowl

Photos of the Virgin Wing Bowl can be viewed here on PhillySportsline.com
{{Competitive eating Competitive eating Culture of Philadelphia Recurring events established in 1993 Recurring events disestablished in 2018 Sports entertainment Annual events in Pennsylvania 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania 2018 disestablishments in Pennsylvania