We Squashed the Beef at Super Bowl LX: A Fiery Recap from the Players Tailgate
Some brands show up to the Big Game with a logo and a handshake.
We showed up with fire, food, and an invitation: bring your rivalries, your hot takes, your “my team was robbed” energy… and turned it into something better around the flame.
On Super Bowl Sunday, just outside Levi's Stadium, we hosted the Squash the Beef Showdown at the Players Tailgate—where fans, chefs, and NFL personalities smashed burgers and “squashed” fan-submitted beefs over live heat.
The Idea: Turn Rivalry into Connection (with a Griddle in the Middle)
The Super Bowl is a magnet for fanatic opinions. It’s also the biggest excuse of the year to gather your people, cook something ridiculous, and stay outside longer—because that’s where the best moments happen.
Squash the Beef was built around a simple premise: if you’re going to argue, at least do it with good food in your hand and good people at your side. And if you’re going to “bring the beef,” we’ll happily squash it on the griddle and bring everyone together.
At the center of it all was the debut of the Steelfire™ 30 Stainless Griddle—our chef-grade, crowd-feeding answer to game-day cooking.
The Stage: Players Tailgate Energy, Solo Stove Heat
If you’ve never experienced Players Tailgate, picture the best parts of game day—turned all the way up: premium bars, all-you-can-eat dining, and a who’s-who of football and food culture.
We brought our full outdoor hosting lineup into that atmosphere—Smokeless Fire Pits, Pizza Ovens, Griddle cooking, and the kind of “backyard-first” setup that makes strangers feel like neighbors.
And yes—there was a giant 15ftx15ftSolo Stove inflatable on-site, because subtlety has never been the point of a good tailgate.
The Showdown: Host, Chefs, Players, and a Whole Lot of Smash Burgers
The Squash the Beef Showdown was hosted by Ashley Haas, bringing the fan-submitted beefs to life on stage—one smashed burger at a time.
Across the weekend, the activation pulled in a stacked mix of culinary talent, NFL personalities, and creators—including:
- Leah Cohen and Miguel Raya
- Belle English, Aaron May, and Marc Murphy
- Puka Nacua, CJ West, and Evan Williams
- DJ Irie (because every great cookout needs a soundtrack)
- Food creators Anthony Bartleson (aka Meat Dad1) and Chuck Matto (Chuck’s Flavor Train)
The vibe was exactly what you would hope for: friendly chaos, loud laughs, and the kind of cooking that turns “I’m just here for the game” into “wait—what are you making next?”
It Wasn’t Just On-Site: Fans Brought the Beef from Everywhere
Before we ever fired up the griddle at the Players Tailgate, the campaign was already rolling online.
Our “pregame” landing page became a real-time pulse check on Big Game season—where rivalries, hot takes, and backyard pride all showed up in force:
- 2,500+ fan-submitted “beefs” (petty, passionate, and painfully relatable)
- 330+ Big Game recipe submissions (the kind you screenshot immediately)
- 150+ photos of Big Game backyard set-ups featuring Solo Stove rigs in the wild
This went way beyond just racking up submissions. You all showed up with real passion—funny, heartfelt, over-the-top rivalries, killer recipes you’ve perfected over years of game days, and photos of your backyard setups that honestly made us jealous. That energy from thousands of fans was the exact spark we needed. It shaped everything we brought to the Players Tailgate, letting us turn your stories and rivalries into actual flames, smashed burgers, and moments where total strangers became friends over great food.
The High-Level Theme of the Beefs: Everyone’s Got One (and That’s the Point)
When we say “Squash the Beef,” we mean it. The best part of reading through thousands of submissions was realizing they weren’t really about being mad—they were about being invested. In the game, in the moment, and in the people you’re watching it with.
At a high level, the beefs clustered into a few buckets:
- Game-day pain & ref trauma: bad calls, roughing-the-QB flags, inconsistent officiating, “my team got robbed,” and a whole lot of scoreboard heartbreak.
- Team loyalty (and suffering): plenty of “my team…” submissions—equal parts comedy and therapy session.
- Food takes that start arguments: hot dogs vs. burgers, what belongs on a hot dog, how a burger should be cooked, and other topics that somehow become personal.
- Prices & real-life frustration: groceries, taxes, “everything costs too much,” and the kind of stress that sneaks into even the fun weekends.
- House rules & social etiquette: double dipping, guests who complain, people talking during the game, and the universal truth that someone always becomes “the loud one.”
- Culture + everyday annoyances: politics, work drama, driving too slow, chores like folding laundry—aka the beefs that existed long before kickoff.
We didn’t “curate” the internet into something polished. We let fans sound like fans. And that’s what made the whole campaign feel human—because it was.
The Week-Of Activations: Delish, S’mores, and the Sweet Side of Rivalry
Squash the Beef extended beyond the tailgate with a few extra reasons to lean in:
- The Delish Game Day Showdown
- The Big Game S’moredown—Seattle vs. New England, settled the correct way: with sugar, chocolate, and fire
And because squashing beef should come with some actual good in the world, we tied fan participation to donations—supporting Food Lifeline and The Greater Boston Food Bank.
What We’ll Remember Most
We’ll remember the sizzle—smash burgers hitting the Steelfire, the crowd reactions, the on-stage moments that felt like backyard friends even when the cameras were rolling.
But more than that, we’ll remember what the whole thing proved (again):
Fire changes the vibe.
It slows people down. It pulls them closer. It turns competition into conversation. And it makes even the hottest takes feel a little less serious—because it’s hard to stay mad when someone hands you a perfect, crispy-edged smash burger.
Keep the Energy Going
If you caught Squash the Beef at Super Bowl LX, or gave us your beef, recipe, or setup shot—thank you for showing up with your appetite, your opinions, and your sense of humor.
If you missed it, you can still steal the best part: invite people over, light something up, cook something worth talking about, and give everyone a reason to stay outside just a little longer.
