Last year, when I was in the middle of developing some tailgating recipes, I literally stumbled upon a Virginia Tech-branded football field cutting board in a curbside junk pile —a treasure! And rather than simply enjoying my winnings, I took it as a sign from the universe that I needed — nay, was destined — to acquire more football-specific servingware. That revelation inspired me to Google “inflatable snack stadium” (honestly not out of place in my search history), which led me to Sunny Anderson’s brilliant, sadly bygone Infladium.
Debuting in 2017, the Infladium was a vision of sports-themed snack organization. The stadium-shaped inflatable included a dozen food containers festooned around a cardboard playing field and represented the gold standard of inflatable snack stadium technology.
The product description says the Infladium would make my “Super Bowl gathering the talk of the town,” but it was discontinued in 2021, so what could I do? Fortunately, an idea that’s that good can’t be discontinued, and various products have stepped up to fill in the gap, so this year, I’ll be treating myself to one of these Infladium-inspired serving coliseums instead.
A Trio of Snack Stadiums
This three-pack of Snack Stadiums has a lot going for it. Made with treated cardboard so that they’re a breeze to assemble but can handle dips and sauces, they’re small enough to be coffee-table-friendly. Rather than necessitating a guacamole playing field, there’s an illustration of a playing field to which you can add the dips of your choice. If convenience is your guiding principle, you’ll love that each snack stadium is meant to be thrown away after one use (and you get a pack of three, so you can go big and triple up or save a couple for next season). (Bonus idea: Replace the generic “FOOTBALL” images on the cardboard jumbotrons with a picture of you and your partner kissing for a very cute DIY Kiss Cam.)
The Infladium walked so that the TrueZoo Inflatable Football Field — basically a kiddie pool for snacks — could run, and run it will, 20 yards for a touchdown into my Amazon cart. What I love about this one is that you can add ice to keep your creamy dips and hard seltzers chilled for all one million hours of the game, and at 52” long, you can cram a lot of both in here. Season-long football fans (and anyone who avoids single use plastics) will appreciate the reusability of this centerpiece.
