Everyone loves a quiz. And no one loves them more than sports fans. After all, what could be a better demonstration of your love for the game than an encyclopaedic knowledge of its trivia?
That’s why more and more NFL fans are starting to organise their own quiz nights. They might take place in a bar, a sports club or even at home. They can also take many forms, using different kinds of technology and a wide range of questions.
But it takes quite some skill to set up a successful one. This will depend on a number of factors, from the format to the scoring and the questions themselves.
So if you’re in the process of planning one of these events, here are a few aspects to consider, including where to source some of your answers.
Decide the format
The very first thing to consider is the format. How many rounds will there be? Will it be a team quiz or an individual one? How long do you want it to last? Will you be checking everyone’s answers or will the contestants be marking each other?
The important thing to ensure is that the quiz is fast-moving. You probably want a maximum of six rounds with a set of different categories and up to ten questions in each round. It’s also good if you can get someone to help you keep a tally of the scores; failing that, there are online tools like Mentimeter that can set the whole quiz and keep a running record of the score.
Think of the prizes
For some players, bragging rights are the only reward they need for winning. But others want something concrete to show for having the knowledge to win. Logically, it needs to be a football-related prize, so maybe a voucher to spend in the official NFL shop.
Create the rounds
Next, it’s time to decide on what the rounds will be, as well as to devise a tie-breaker in case two teams of players end up with the same score at the end of all the rounds. This is best if it’s a numerical answer, so it could be something like the person who guesses closest to the attendance figure at a particular game or even the DraftKings odds of a particular team winning the Super Bowl at the end of the season (Tip: choose a team with long odds rather than one of the more obvious candidates).
Round 1 – the warm-up
You want to ease players in gradually, so the first round should be a quickfire one with questions that are easy to answer, but not too easy. So questions like “how long is an NFL Field?” and “how many NFL teams are there in California?” are pitched at about the right level.
Round 2 – teams
As we get a little deeper into the quiz, then you could start asking questions that need some knowledge of the teams in the league, with questions like “which team has never featured a single Hall of Famer?” or “name all the teams that feature a bird in their logo?”
Round 3 – the rules of the game
For true football fans, it’s not just about knowing the teams and players; it’s also important to know about the rules too. To keep it topical, it could include questions like “name three new rules that have been introduced for the 2026-27 season” or “what yard line are kick-offs made from?”
Round 4 – pictures and vision
To break up the quiz, this round could feature pictures of players who contestants have to correctly identify as NFL stars along with the teams that they play for. Another great quiz question is to get hold of famous clips of action from YouTube, freezing them and asking what happened next.
Round 5 – Super Bowl
Exactly what it sounds like. A whole round about the history of the sport’s greatest event with questions like “what were the most points ever scored in the game and which two teams were playing?”. You could even ask questions about the famous half-time show and in which year particular performers were part of the entertainment.
Round 6 – Super Trivia
Finish off with a round that takes a deep dive into the minutiae of the sport with questions and answers drawn from sites like sporcle.com.
Once you’ve sorted everything, it’s time to decide how you’re going to decorate the space to make it NFL-themed and whether you’re going to put on the sorts of snacks fans typically enjoy in the stadium like corn dogs, burgers and milkshakes.
Then you’re all set for a great meeting of NFL minds – and to the nerdiest and most knowledgeable victor, the spoils will come!
