7 Superbowl rituals that remind us of Ramadan

Millions of Americans get together to watch the Superbowl every February, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), just as millions of Muslims around the world gather in the spirit for the holy month of Ramadan. 

Although the Superbowl is a sporting event and Ramadan a spiritual one, both embrace the concept of "togetherness."

It's got us wondering whether football fans in America have borrowed some of our own Ramadan traditions.

Here's what makes us think so:

Airing an advertisement during the Superbowl comes with an outrageous price tag (a 30 second spot costs approximately $5 million) that international brands look forward to all year. 

Ramadan is the exact same way. Ads during Ramadan cost up to 150 percent more on top channels. 

In fact, brands spent more than 65 percent of their total advertising budget on Television ads in 2013 and 2014, according to Think With Google. 

Advertisements are so essential to brands during Ramadan that YouTube launched "The Lantern Awards" in 2016 to reward brands for their ad performances during the holy month. 

The Superbowl is considered to be the second largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. 

As opposed to Superbowl, Ramadan does not just happen in one day. It takes place over the course of 30 days - with increased food consumption during the night (iftar) and early morning (suhoor).

According to a survey conducted in 2016, over half of respondents will spend more during Ramadan; the majority of respondents (93%) expect to increase their spending primarily on groceries and food. 

Consumers are more likely to buy food items regularly rather than in bulk, making discounts and price offs attractive to 78% of consumers in all three countries!

During the Superbowl this is basically the most asked question prior to the show - because people want to know when to start their parties. 

During Ramadan, it's a question that comes up every single day (more than once) because people want to know what time they will have iftar. 

In 2016, Egyptian actor Mohamad Ramadan made the rounds online after an episode of his killing in the series Oustoura where he played the role of Rifaii Al Dosuki aired. 

Several parodies followed the episode, one of which added epic background music (Shik Shak Shok) to the scene. 

The Superbowl 2017 was all about Lady Gaga's performance during the halftime show. Despite it being awesome, people couldn't help but mock her flying in the air - comparing the performance to an episode of Spongebob. 

Drinks. Get-togethers are all about the drinks. 

Americans drink on average 50 million cases of beer during Superbowl weekend, averaging more than 325 million gallons of beer. 

Around $10.8 billion dollars will be spent just on purchasing beer. 

Vimto sales see a drastic increase during the holy month every year. It is considered to be one of the most popular drinks in Gulf states in the Middle East, >with 31 million bottles sold during the holy month in 2011. 

It's not an official Superbowl party without Pizza! In fact, Americans love pizza so much that they eat more than ">28 million pizza slices" just from two of the country's biggest pizza chains - Pizza Hut and Domino's. 

It's the same thing with dates during Ramadan. It's not an official feast without dates and laban. 

The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) estimated that 7.5 million tonnes of dates were produced in 2011 for the holy month.