I’m going to make a proposal. I know it’s Valentine’s Day weekend, but it’s not that kind. And not to disappoint you but it’s not even that novel. But here it is.
Super Bowl Sunday should be a national holiday.
I’m not even a big football fan, but I’d argue that neither are the millions of others like me, who not only watch the final game of the season but make it a festivity complete with chips, dips, and cold beverages. I’m going to go a step further and wager that most of those same people, maybe more, value Super Bowl Sunday more than Valentine’s Day.
Last year, more than half of the U.S. population watched Super Bowl LVIII, the most watched Super Bowl in pro football history. Also last year, about 53 percent of Americans surveyed said they planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day, down from 60 percent in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
This isn’t a new concept and it’s not a hard one to figure out. Most adults I know don’t want to leave home if they can avoid it. There’s even data to prove we won’t do it. We’re fine buying candy and flowers, but skipping dinner and a date is just fine with us, too. So, it comes as no surprise to me that fewer people are choosing not to celebrate Valentine’s Day – we just don’t want to be bothered with getting dressed up and fighting crowds. We don’t have to leave home to watch the game.
Here’s another reason my proposal is defensible. Holidays are a dime a dozen. Do you know how many there are in this month alone? One of them is National Cherry Pie Day, celebrated on Feb. 20. Cherries aren’t even in season this month, but George Washington’s birthday is celebrated, hence, the connection. A quick internet search will reveal this…in that same list of holidays is “the Super Bowl.”
I also learned while doing my research that Super Bowl Sunday is considered an unofficial holiday already, according to Britannica. A New York Post poll found that 55 percent of 3,000 football fans surveyed wish the Monday after the Super Bowl was an official holiday. Two-thirds of the people surveyed just disliked Mondays, and half of them were mourning the loss of their team.
My proposal isn’t even asking for Monday to be a national holiday, so I can have a day off work. It won’t cost money or interrupt anyone’s routine or livelihood in a bad way. In fact, making the Super Bowl a national holiday has a lot of upsides. The marketing alone will be spectacular!
The numbers tell the story. This month, people will get more excited about the most popular sporting event of modern times, and less excited about our most historically adored lover’s holiday. I consider myself to be a romantic, and while I haven’t lost any love for Valentine’s Day, I can certainly understand the attraction to The Super Bowl. Maybe it’s time it got the status it deserves in our national holiday listings.
James Bass is the director of the Givens Performing Arts Center. Reach him at [email protected].
