Over one hundred million people will likely tune into Super Bowl LX this year, a game that starts at 6:30 p.m. ET and typically has post-game coverage that goes until 10:30 p.m. ET. For many workers tuning into the game this year, they wish they could have the next day off of work.
Day After Super Bowl as Holiday Draws Attention Annually
NFL media partner Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) will hope for a close game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots to keep fans engaged the entire four plus hours of coverage.
For some who work early Monday morning, the decision to not finish the game or shut the game off early if it's a blowout could cost Comcast viewership as the game ends.
For years there have been calls to make the day after the Super Bowl a holiday, which would limit the number of people who have to work after spending hours in front of their television on Super Bowl Sunday along with consuming wings, pizza and other various food items in larger than normal quantities.
Benzinga polled readers and social media followers to see if the day after the Super Bowl should be a holiday.
On X, Benzinga users were more favorable to the day after being a holiday with the following results:
In the "Ring the Bell" newsletter, Benzinga readers were more split when asked about making the Monday after the Super Bowl a federal holiday. Here were the results:
- Yes, bring on the long weekend: 42%
- No, back to work we go: 58%
Combining the two polls and assuming no overlap between respondents, here were the results to whether the day after the Super Bowl should be a federal holiday:
The combined polls showed a small majority in preference to making the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday.
Is There A Need for a Holiday?
The good news for those who selected yes in the poll is a quick look at next year's calendar shows a more favorable lineup.
Next year's Super Bowl will be played on Feb. 14, 2027. That lines up with President's Day, a national holiday, falling the day after on Feb. 15, 2027.
This year and in 2028, the Super Bowl and President's Day are weeks apart.
A potential expansion to the NFL schedule to 18 games could see the Super Bowl aligning with President's Day every year and make the need to add a holiday a non-factor.
A 2023 survey from the Workforce Institute said 18.1 million employees were expected to miss work the day after last year's Super Bowl.
A workforce productivity study from Sportsbook Review previously showed that the week of and day after Super Bowl see a drop by over $5 billion in productivity.
There have been petitions over the years to move the Super Bowl to a Saturday. More than two dozen petitions have been made on Change.org since 2017, according to USA Today. One recent petition to move the game to Saturday generated over 144,000 signatures.
This year, a petition from the National Chicken Council calls on President Donald Trump to make the day after the Super Bowl a Super Bowl. The council says that chicken wing fans, who consumer 1.38 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend, are united on making the day after the Super Bowl a holiday, or as they hope to call it "National Chicken Wing Appreciation Day."
One proposal also suggested that Presidents' Day, which is a federal holiday, should come the day after the Super Bowl.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been asked about this topic over the years.
“The reason we haven’t done it in the past is simply just from an audience standpoint. The audiences on Sunday night are so much larger,” Goodell said in 2018. “Fans want to have the best opportunity to be able to see the game and we want to give that to them, so Sunday night is a better night.”
One company that capitalizes on the day after Super Bowl and the potential drag for those at work is Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). The company is once again offering free coffee for Rewards members, similar to a move it made last year.
