The dark side of the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest days on the United States calendar. Although it’s not officially a holiday, people pour money and effort into making sure it’s one of the most memorable days of the year. However, the focus paid to Super Bowl Sunday creates an issue for most of the country once the game is over.

The big game equates to big business. A 30-second Super Bowl advertisement cost between $7 and $8 million in 2025, and the National Chicken Council (yes, that’s a real thing) estimated that Americans ate 1.47 billion chicken wings during the day. The ads and chicken wings don’t pay for themselves.

However, the one issue with Super Bowl Sunday is that it will never fall on a different day of the week, meaning that everyone who ate so much and devoted so much time to the game is generally expected to show up to work the next day. That’s where a problem comes into play.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

The New York Post called the phenomenon “Super Bowl flu.” As one might imagine or know from firsthand experience, the challenge of getting up on Monday morning to go to work is immense. Even if people do manage to get to work, their minds are still focused on the prior day, and are likely more excited to have conversations about the Super Bowl than get anything done.

For as much money as the Super Bowl brings in, the game and surrounding events also cost businesses an absurd amount. The New York Post reports that businesses could lose $3 billion in productivity or sales the day after the Super Bowl.

Additionally, 23 million people were expected to call out of work the following day.

With the Monday after the game being a lost day anyway, 43 percent of people in a UKG-Harris poll believe that it should permanently become a holiday. They may soon get their wish.

It’s the league’s worst kept secret. The NFL wants to extend their regular season by one game, to play 18 total games instead of the current 17. That would push back the conclusion of the season by one week.

That would make a crucial difference for people who currently face the challenge of powering through fatigue to go to work. The third Monday in February is President’s Day, which most businesses in the United States recognize as a national holiday.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

While the logistics of playing the Super Bowl the day before President’s Day make a lot of sense, not everyone is excited to see the NFL move in the direction of a longer season. The National Football League Players Association is concerned about this idea.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. (seen here with Eli Manning) told ESPN, “No one wants to play an 18^th game. No one. Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long. Seventeen games is also so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season. So there are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of the season before any formal negotiations.”

Of course, the NFLPA and critics of schedule expansion said the same thing when the idea of a 17-game season was proposed and ultimately approved. That reality makes it feel like the NFL will get to 18 games at some point, perhaps before the end of the decade.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the Los Angeles Times, “we know fans love football and they want more football. But we have to be incredibly sensitive and smart with the balance and how we deal with that.”

Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum told Fox Sports, “A lot of us are struggling to get our bodies right. I know most of my teammates don’t feel normal until July when it’s time for another season.”

It seems like there’s no easy answer. HR Grapevine’s website pointed out that fans who are tired or hungover after the Super Bowl could be putting themselves or others at risk the next day, especially if they work in jobs that require operation of machinery or vehicles.

Let us know what you think by dropping us a comment!

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!