Here's an idea worth considering.
The annual NFL Championship Game-- a.k.a., the SUPER BOWL-- will be played on Sunday, February 9, 2025... two full weeks after the NFC & AFC Championship games determine the contestants. Hundreds of millions worldwide will tune in, and most will mark the day with copious food and drink... and not feel like going to work the next day. There has been occasional talk of turning the Super Bowl into a national holiday and making the Monday after a day off. Here's what I think is a much better idea--
Play the Super Bowl on Saturday night!
Here's how this could work:
START THE GAME LATER.
Move the kickoff from the traditional 6:35PM EST to an hour later, at 7:35PM. This would make it fully a prime-time game, which leaves more time beforehand for normal family dinners or even dinner parties. Aside from everything else, this might well shift us all away from what has become a game-long, high-calorie snack-a-thon. And it won't be a school night, meaning that the youngsters can stay up and watch with the grown-ups and then normalize their schedules on Sunday.
RE-THINK THE HALFTIME SHOW.
I'm old enough to have witnessed the progression of halftime shows from marching bands to "Up With People" to lip-synching pop and hip-hop superstars. While the fireworks and technology have gotten better, lots of us aren't sure the music has. How about limiting the performance to just TWO songs performed live but remotely, by stars who are actually singing? This would just be teaser, really, for the next suggestion--
THE NATIONAL SUPER BOWL AFTER-PARTY
Those stars who perform the two-song teaser at halftime would be the featured performers at a nationally-televised Super Bowl party. Imagine NBC airing the Super Bowl and then, at 11:30PM (or whenever the game ends) jumping directly to a special 2-hour SNL-- Super Bowl-themed and broadcast live from a large venue in the host city with numerous celebrity guests, dancers, and the aforementioned musicians as well as others. Maybe even a star-studded jam session, like they have at the annual Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inductions. This format could be easily copied by other networks, and it would bring a ready-made, NYE-like party of the year into every home with a large screen TV.
WHAT ABOUT THE DISADVANTAGES?
I can only imagine two issues-- the phrase "Super Bowl Sunday" would become obsolete, but "Super Bowl Weekend" would probably work just fine. And teams would have one less day to prepare, which really doesn't mean much of anything with twelve days to get ready.
And finally...
WHAT ABOUT SUNDAY?
This may sound radical, but-- maybe church and family gatherings with the TV off? Or maybe sledding in the park with the kids? Visiting elderly relatives? Going to a movie or even a museum? There's gotta be something to do on a February Sunday other than watch football, and figuring that out might be a healthy thing.
Of course this won't happen this year, or next year or the next. But if the NFL ever feels the need to become more family-friendly, they are welcome to adopt this idea at some point down the road.
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