Super Bowl will deal body blow to U.S. productivity

Regardless of where you live, if you’re a football fan, the Super Bowl is always a big event. And if ticket prices are any indication, this game will be a popular one.

But there is a dark side to all this hoopla, particularly for employers: the cost of lost employee productivity.

These fears were confirmed Friday with the release of a new study from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The firm says that, assuming the same number of workers take the Monday after the Super Bowl off as last year, the cost of lost productivity to the economy will exceed $3 billion.

Mind you, this is a national average. With almost 3 million workers, the cost in the Philadelphia metropolitan area alone could be as much as $194 million.

According to the study, even if workers come in a mere hour late or spend an hour discussing the game, the lost time will still amount to about $1.78 billion. The game hasn’t even taken place yet, but estimates are that businesses already have lost almost $300 million to discussions and debates among football fans.

Many believe there would be fewer disruptions and therefore less costs to declare a national holiday after the Super Bowl. So until the federal government takes action, what can an employer do?

“Employers could have a Super Bowl Monday party, letting workers rehash the game together,” Andrew Challenger, vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. “For those who can, managers might consider allowing workers to come in later that Monday.”