Super Bowl to cost $3 billion for American businesses

The Super Bowl is more than just a football game as an American tradition, but for businesses across the country, the Monday after the big game brings a costly hangover worth as much as three billion dollars. Here's how.

Research suggests that companies could lose as much as $3 billion due to absenteeism and decreased productivity following the final game of the 2024/25 NFL season, making the Super Bowl one of the most disruptive sporting events for the workforce.

A new poll from UKG-Harris predicts that 22.6 million employees plan to skip work on February 10 in a sharp increase from the 16.1 million workers who called out sick in 2024. Nearly 13 million Americans are expected to arrive late.

And it's all because of the timing of the game. With the Super Bowl's extended halftime show and post-game celebrations, the event often stretches past 22:00 ET/19:00 PT so fans watching often stay up late drinking, making the idea of an early morning alarm unappealing.

Beyond absenteeism, the productivity of those who do make it to work is also in question. A study from the National Library of Medicine, cited by the New York Post, found that hungover employees are roughly 25% less productive.

They can waste an estimated two hours of the workday and given that 54 million employed Americans who drink alcohol are expected to watch the game, the financial impact is staggering.

Super Bowl LIX Special: Everything you need to know about Eagles vs Chiefs

Related:

• Super Bowl 2025: date, time, halftime show and everything you need to know
• Where to watch the 2025 Super Bowl? TV channel and streaming where you can watch the game
• Super Bowl 2025 Halftime Show: Everything you need to know about Kendrick Lamar's show
• Super Bowl Winners List: All the teams that have won the Super Bowl by year
• Gatorade Color Super Bowl: Odds, history and more about the traditional Gatorade bath

With the average U.S. worker earning $222 per day, those showing up hungover will cost their companies around $55 each in lost productivity, according to calculations from NetVoucherCodes. In total, the losses could hit the $3 billion mark.

Could Super Bowl Monday become a national holiday?

For now, however, millions of employees must make the annual decision: power through the workday with a headache or call in sick.

And the idea of turning the Monday after the Super Bowl into a national holiday has gained traction in recent years.

According to the UKG-Harris poll, 43% of employees the idea. Advocates argue that a designated holiday would allow workers to fully enjoy the game without worrying about the next morning, ultimately improving morale and efficiency later in the week.

As the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prepare to battle for the championship, businesses are bracing for a significant hit to productivity in particularly challenging economic times.

Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 18:30 ET/15:30 at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, and regardless of the final score, America's workforce will be feeling the effects the next day.