Should the Monday after the Super Bowl become a national holiday? While many may scoff at the idea, it may be something businesses around the US seriously start to look into.

The Super Bowl has taken on a life of its own over the past 20 years. Each year the game gets more hype, the halftime acts and commercials are becoming big business and people love to throw parties. The proof that Monday should become a national holiday in the US is in the pudding, the statical pudding that is.

A new national holiday?

While some call it just another football game, what happens on Super Bowl Sunday is magical in most cities across the US, even if your hometown team isn’t in the big game.

Businesses, large and small, thrive on Super Sunday. Pizza and carry out food sales go up nearly 40-percent on. So does the sale of beer, wings, party food trays, and decorations.

According to a Yahoo finance report, an average of over $14 billion dollars in food, drink, and decorations (balloons, plates, and cups) has been spent to celebrate the big game over the past three years – and this year that total is expected to rise. With all that eating going on, along with cheering your team on to victory, it can lead to a long and tiring evening. Even folks who choose not to consume alcohol still have a serious "Super Bowl hangover" the following day.

Now the bigger news. Most people don’t plan on working the day after the big game, and if they do they aren’t very productive.

Sluggish Monday

Marketwatch indicates that an estimated 17.2 million people will miss work the day after the Patriots face the Rams this weekend. That is incredible when you think about it. Add to that, stats indicate over three million employees will arrive to work late and an estimated six million will leave work early and you have to wonder why some business would not be on board when it comes to making Monday a holiday.

If those stats are accurate, it will be the largest-ever anticipated day of Super Bowl-related absenteeism ever.

The Workforce Institute at Kronos began tracking this stat of absenteeism following the Super Bowl in 2005. It seems people really do catch Super Bowl fever on Monday!

Now many people who could care less about the game (yes, they are out there) will say people just need to be more responsible.

However, when the numbers are this big, you have to at least consider the possibilities of making Super Bowl Monday a holiday.

So the question is out there. Should the Monday after the Super Bowl become a holiday?
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