Super (Bowl) flu set to hit 16m Americans

The Sunday night Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will lead to huge numbers of Americans calling into work sick on Monday

NFL fans will be calling into work sick after the Chiefs and 49ers play in the Super Bowl this Sunday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Businesses across the United States are bracing for an outbreak of ‘Super flu’ next Monday when over 16m Americans are expected to phone in sick after watching the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs play for the Lombardi Trophy.

A survey from UKG, a provider of human resources, payroll, and workforce management solutions, estimated that 16.1m U.S. employees plan to miss work the day after the 11 February Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

The survey also found that 22.5m U.S. employees, or 14 per cent of the work force, expect they will miss at least some work on Monday while 45m say they’ll be less productive than usual.

“The Monday after Super Bowl has become the number one day in absenteeism or people taking a vacation day,” Derek Stevens, owner and CEO of several Las Vegas casinos including Circa, told Reuters. “It has become so significant.

“From a Vegas gaming perspective Super Bowl Monday after has now become a top 10 day out of 365 days a year for gambling.”

A record 67.8m American adults are expected to bet $23.1bn on the Super Bowl, the American Gaming Association said.

Las Vegas is expecting to see huge amounts of gambling thanks to the Super Bowl (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“A lot has to do with the Super Bowl in Vegas being sold out every year,” said Stevens. “Not everyone can fit onto an airplane on Monday so as opposed to trying to fight traffic and try to get a very expensive flight out of town on Monday they leave on Tuesday.

“What it’s done is it has created this event like the Sunday night after the game is over. It’s crazy.

“People are betting like crazy, because either you won a lot of money so you want to bet more or lost a lot of money and trying to get it back.

“Monday people are hanging around all day then they hit the bricks on Tuesday.”