Why is the Super Bowl always on Sunday?

WASHINGTON. The Sunday Super Bowls are not only a symbol of American culture, but also one of the most popular sporting events in the world. Even non-football fans can enjoy the extravagant halftime shows and long-awaited commercials that air during the big game.

This is not only an important day for television, but also the second largest food consumption day in the US after Thanksgiving.

Since the beginning of the championship game on January 15, 1967, the Super Bowl has always been held on Sundays.

For years, fans of the sporting event have signed online petitions demanding that the Super Bowl be moved to Saturday.

One of the recent attempts to convince the league to change the big game was a petition by a Florida high school student that received over 144,000 signatures on Change.org.

The Mondays after the Super Bowl are notorious for the number of employees calling out of work.

In 2021, a survey by the Workforce Institute found that 16.1 million employees said they planned to miss work the day after the Super Bowl. More than 4 million people admitted that they planned to get sick, although in fact they did not feel bad.

According to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, one reason the NFL is adamant about holding the Super Bowl on Sundays has to do with television ratings.

During a 2018 interview with The Kyle Brandt Football Experience, Goodell said it all comes down to TV ratings.

“The reason we haven’t done this in the past is simply because of the audience’s point of view. Sunday night audiences are much larger, Goodell said in 2018. “Fans want to have the best opportunity to see the game and we want to give it to them, so Sunday night is the best night ever.”

To date, the most viewed NFL championship game was Super Bowl XLIX (49) in 2015 between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, which received 114 million views.

This year’s Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona at around 6:30 pm ET.