Potato commission makes Super Bowl wager

KENNEWICK - Once the Super Bowl is over, preparations will immediately begin to ready thousands of pounds of potatoes for shipment to either Washington or Colorado.

But which state will do the packing depends solely on the outcome of Sunday's game.

The Washington State Potato Commission and the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee have made a friendly wager on the Super Bowl. Each group pledges to send potatoes to a food bank in the other city if their team loses.

WSPC Executive Director Chris Voigt told potato industry members about the wager during the second day of the 2014 Washington-Oregon Potato Conference.

If the Seahawks win, Colorado must send some of their potatoes to a Seattle food bank in the weeks following the game. A win by the Broncos would require Washington to send some of their potatoes down to Denver.

How many potatoes the losing state must send will be calculated using the game's final score.

For every point scored during the game, 500 pounds of potatoes must be donated, he said.

"For example, when the Seahawks win 47-3, that's 50 points," Voigt said during the conference. "So Colorado would send 25,000 pounds of potatoes to a food bank in Seattle."

However, the Colorado camp is just as sure their team will win.

"It is pretty straight forward, the Broncos will win and Washington state will be donating potatoes to a food bank in Denver," CPAC Executive Director Jim Ehrlich said in a recent statement. "Although it is not really fair since Colorado potatoes are better tasting."

Voigt said the two groups have been exchanging competitive banter over the past week on their respective social media sites. In fact, WSPC staff made a parody video poking fun at Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning's "Omaha" call, he said.

The video was recently shared on the Columbia Basin Herald's Facebook page.

To make the bet more interesting, both groups agreed to add another element. The executive director or a grower representative, from the losing state will have to go to the winning state and conduct a promotion of the winning state's potatoes.

However, they will have to do so while wearing a potato costume sporting the winning team's jersey, according to the WSPC.

"I'm not as concerned as much with the possibility of having to wear the costume as I am of Colorado having enough potatoes to cover the bet when the Seahawks run up the score on the Broncos," Voigt said.

The organization from the winning state will select the food bank to award the potatoes to, according to the WSPC.