Why do we do this to ourselves every year?
For millions of sports fans, that’s a question that is asked every Super Bowl Sunday, and more likely, the following Monday morning.
On Sunday night millions of people around the globe will tune in to watch the final NFL game of the season between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. It’s an intriguing matchup as the Chiefs look to become the first NFL team to win three championships in a row, and the Eagles look to avenge a loss to the Chiefs two seasons ago.
The question is, why is the biggest game of the season on a Sunday at all?
If you, like millions of Americans, will be dragging to work on Monday you may be among the growing chorus of football fans clamoring for the final game of the season to be moved to a Saturday.
For more than five decades the NFL championship has been played on a Sunday. It’s tradition, and as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in 2018 prior to the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement with the player’s union, it’s going to stay that way.
Goodell pointed to Sunday night as being the league’s best time slot for TV ratings, and the fact that NFL football is a Sunday staple in households all across the country, regardless of time zone.
Of course, Goodell isn’t wrong. He’s paid millions of dollars annually to ensure the NFL game is the best product it can be, reaching as many consumers as possible in person or on television.
But keeping the championship game on Sunday doesn’t pass muster when all things are considered.
Would the NFL draw less viewers on a Saturday night? For the biggest game of the year? – Unlikely. Would playing on a Saturday ultimately benefit the fans? – Absolutely.
Not that the NFL is going to call and ask the opinion of anyone in Highlands or Cashiers, but it’s time for the biggest sporting event of the year to be played on Saturday and save us the despair of the long Monday morning.