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The average American will spend $81.17 on the Super Bowl. How about you?

This year, Americans' Super Bowl spending is expected to reach $15.3 billion, an average of $81.17 per fan, on food and beverages, team apparel and accessories, TVs and decorations, according to the National Retail Federation.

When you spend $20,000 on your Super Bowl party, this is what you get: 7-pound lobsters flown in fresh from Maine, valets to park the guests' cars and custom-designed slippers decorated with little footballs for anyone who wants them.

Plastic surgeon William Pittas has invited about 250 guests to his annual Super Bowl bash at his Bloomfield Hills, Mich., home. Besides the lobsters, they'll nibble on pate appetizers, drown themselves in six cases of fine cabernet and listen to live music — if they aren't watching the game on his 14 big-screen TVs.

If you think this Sunday's Super Bowl is lavish based on free-spending advertisers and the multimillion-dollar salaries of the NFL's stars, consider the business generated by viewing parties.

This year, Americans’ Super Bowl spending is expected to reach $15.3 billion — or an average of $81.17 per fan — on food and beverages, team apparel and accessories, TVs and decorations, according to the National Retail Federation. That's up 8.5% from last year’s $14.1 billion.

Four out of five of the 188.5 million Americans expected to watch the game plan to spend on munchies and drinks — the highest ever since the survey began in 2007, the NRF says.

The nation's red-hot economy is fueling the gangbusters spending around the matchup between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. With more cash in the pockets, consumers plan to spend heartily for everything from gallons of guacamole to fancy craft beer.

"When people are exuberant about the future, they might have a harder time controlling themselves when (shopping)," said Syon Bhanot, a behavioral economist at Swarthmore College.

Among those people are Pittas, 44, who admits he isn't a huge football fan but is clearly someone who loves a great party.

"It gives me a chance, after the holidays are over, to get (friends) together again one more time," he said. "With the stock market where it is and people's 401(k)s sky high, people feel good."

But Bhanot also cited the current political climate in the U.S. as a driver of all that Pats-and-Eagles-related spending. The Super Bowl — and the hype leading up to it — gives Americans football to preoccupy themselves with.

"There's anticipation, especially for serious fans, of high levels of emotion at that time," Bhanot said. "People want a distraction. By having this additional drama on the side, it allows them to focus their attention on something else."

Doling out the most cash on all things Super Bowl are Millennials, the NRF found. People ages 25 to 34 are forecast to spend an average of $118.43, followed by Gen X, ages 35 to 44, at $113.50 and ages 45 to 54 at $80.01. Boomers, ages 55 to 64, come in at $61.32.

Jed Latkin, 43, of New York, has been hosting a Super Bowl party every year since he was in high school. This year, he's expecting 30 to 40 guests, about half of them kids. The biotech executive ordered $2,000 worth of food and drinks, including a 6-foot submarine sandwich, trays with about 400 chicken wings, 5 pounds of potato chips, 2 gallons of salsa and 200 cocktail-size hot dogs. The beverage list ranges from soft drinks to high-end tequilas and vodkas. Guests must bring their own beer, and his parents spring for cookies for dessert.

"Maybe you have a token fruit platter or vegetable platter. No one wants that. ...They want hot dogs and deli," Latkin said.

It's no cheap occasion.

"The amount you're spending is almost like a wedding, when you think about it. And if it's more than that, I don't want to say, because my wife would get mad."

Follow USA TODAY reporter Zlati Meyer on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer

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