Campaign to change Super Bowl day to Saturday or give US a public holiday gathers momentum

A Florida student is campaigning to have the Super Bowl moved to a Saturday so people can stay up late and enjoy the event.

Frank Ruggeri, 18, from Palm Bay, is arguing that moving the big football game will also allow fans to recover from the excitement of the event, which is commonly watched by around 100 million viewers each year.

So far his campaign titled “Super Bowl 56 to Saturday” has garnered more than 80,000 signatures on Change.org.

Mr Ruggeri argues that the NFL could benefit too, as more visitors will be likely to travel for the game. “It will let more children enjoy their beloved game on TV or at the venue. Most of the football playoff games are on Saturday anyway,” Mr Ruggeri claims in the petition.

He also predicted that the economy would benefit from a day change, presuming a vast number wouldn’t go into work on the Monday after the game. Potentially, “17.2 million people miss work,” he said in an interview on New’s Nation’s Morning in America.

The concept is one that has been discussed for some time. Mr Ruggeri’s campaign started two years ago before gaining more recent attention, especially as this year’s game will happen the day before Valentine’s day, on 13 February.

“I wanna talk to whoever decided that Super Bowl Sunday was on Valentine’s Day weekend because they are def single,” said one woman on TikTok.

“To the person that moved the Super Bowl to Valentine’s Day weekend … I don’t think you understand how much you ruined,” said another.

Many people have said it makes sense to change the day of the game from Sunday going forward. “It’s about freakin time NFL did this,” said one person on Mr Ruggeri’s partition, “if they cant move to Saturday, at least make kickoff earlier.”

“I believe it’s a change that would benefit everyone involved!!” wrote another user.

Another person suggested it would be wise to make the day after the Super Bowl a day off work. “Either move it to Saturday or make the Monday after a federal holiday,” they said.

The Super Bowl will take place at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on 13 February and will air live on NBC and premium service Peacock. Dr Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar are performing in the year’s halftime show.