Calling in for ‘Super Sick Monday’ after Super Bowl? You won’t be alone

After the watch parties and celebration, commiseration, or just staying up binging Super Bowl ads, did you wake up with “Super Bowl flu” this morning? It could be an epidemic.

An estimated 26.2 million Americans said they planned to miss work the day after the big game, breaking the record for “Super Sick Monday” for the second year in a row, according to a survey by human resources management firm Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG).

In 2025, 22.6 million employees stayed home, potentially costing up to $5.2 billion in lost work and productivity UKG said.  On the plus side, it appears that more employees are letting their bosses know ahead of time.

“Last year’s record-breaking prediction preceded Super Bowl LIX being the most-watched program in the history of broadcast television — and data shows employees are not only planning ahead for it, but also hoping for an assist from their employer,” said Julie Develin, Senior Partner, HCM Advisory at UKG.

More than 13 million people said they plan to take a pre-approved day off today, up from 12.9 million last year and 10 million in 2024, UKG said.

Are people skipping work after the Super Bowl?

As for the rest of the no-shows, here’s how they plan to work it, per UKG survey responses:

• 6.5 million people plan to swap shifts with a co-worker, up from 4.8 million in 2025
• 3.3 million intend to call out sick, just a touch above last year’s numbers
• 1.6 million plan to ‘ghost’ work and just not show up without notifying their employer, which sounds bad but it’s a considerable drop compared to 3.2 million in 2025
• 8.2 million say they’ll decide what to do on Monday

“This year it appears that fewer employees plan to ghost work and others are proactively swapping shifts,” Develin said. “That kind of workforce understanding and insights is a net positive because unplanned absences can quickly add up — potentially costing businesses more than $5 billion in lost productivity.”

Not everyone will be staying home. Nearly 4.9 million workers plan to go into work late unannounced, the survey said.

Are Florida workers calling in sick after the Super Bowl?

UKG didn’t break their survey down by geographical locations. But gambling site Betway analyzed Google searches for the day after the Super Bowl and absenteeism and announced that West Virginia, Kansas and Arizona were the three states most likely to see missing employees today, as reported by Florida Politics.

Florida was ranked No. 41, suggesting Sunshine State workers are harder workers (or we know better than to use public search engines for that sort of thing). That said, in a 2024 Betway analysis of which states called out for sports events the most, Florida was in the top 10.

Should the Monday after the Super Bowl be a national holiday?

Next year, Super Bowl LXI falls on Valentine’s Day over Presidents’ Day weekend. But some American would like to see the Monday after the game established as its own thing.

In UKG’s survey, 48% of employees agreed that Super Bowl Monday should be a national holiday, up from 43% in 2025.

Who won the Super Bowl last night?

In a game that looked like it could end up a shutout, the New England Patriots managed a fourth-quarter breakthrough and the Seahawks scored a 29-13 victory to nab the second Super Bowl title in the franchise’s history.

C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat. Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat