On Sunday night, Super Bowl XLVIII (or 48 for us non-Romans) will be played in New Jersey, with inclement weather forecast for game day.  “Outside in a northern climate, the way God intended football to be played” said reporter Marc Bona.  All 108 million (Nielsen rating 2013) of us will be tuned in to see if the players freeze, if the lights go out, who will win and if there will be a wardrobe malfunction.

If you didn’t bid on the $1,699 single ticket and $170 parking pass on eBay to be there in person, you’ll probably be one of the 20 million people at a Super Bowl party celebrating the second most popular eating holiday of the year.  The National Chicken Council’s 2014 Wing Report (insert sarcasm here) says that 1.25 billion chicken wings will be eaten this weekend.  Americans will drink 325.5 million gallons of beer and will eat 28 million pounds of potato chips.  Antacid sales will increase by 20% on Monday.

It should not come as a surprise that, on Monday, 1.5 million people will call in sick and 4.4 million employees will be late for work. A survey by Venables, Bell and Partners found that 29% of people surveyed said they would be hung over the Monday after the game.

So, based on these statistics, what actually happens in the office on Super Bowl Monday? Employees are moving slow, talking about the game and paying out on the office pool (there was probably one and they didn’t include you.  Just Google ‘office super bowl pool rules’- there are 2,230,000 results.  Believe me, there was a pool in your office). Employees are critiquing the halftime show as Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers are sure to be fantastic.  They follow a long line of great halftime performances – Michael Jackson in 1993, Paul McCartney in 2005, and let’s not forget the famous Janet (“Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty”) and the rip heard around the world in 2004.    

Last year, there were 5,280,048 tweets during the Super Bowl.  There were only 1,626,592 tweets during last year’s Oscars.  Considering a 30 second commercial costs $4 million dollars this year, you can bet your employees will be talking about the best thing they saw or read and also viewing them on YouTube or Facebook from their desks.  Scarlett Johansson and Uncle Joey will be big topics of conversation Monday morning.

All that distraction and what does it really mean for office productivity?  Can you really do anything about it? Do you really want to?  A study by Challenger, Christmas and Grey states businesses will lose a combined $820-850 million dollars in productivity on Monday.  The amount of employees calling in sick or coming in late, although it seems like a staggering number, is only 4% of the population.  Glassdoor ‘s study said that even though 22% of employees said Monday is a less productive day, 20% said morale was typically better in the office that day.

You can be “that boss” and shut it down or embrace Super Bowl Monday- I suggest you join in the fun!  Institute a “Casual Football Monday” and have everyone wear their favorite football team spirit wear.  Bring in a hangover breakfast for everyone along with some Tylenol and antacids. 

Your employees will be grateful and maybe next year they’ll invite you into the football pool. 

What does your office do to boost productivity Super Bowl Monday?