To avoid disruption to labour productivity, expert recommends 'active conversations with employees to ensure business is covered’
26.21 million workers – that’s the number of workers expected to miss work following Super Bowl Sunday 2026, which is expected to take a massive hit on labour productivity, according to a report.
This year’s projection surpasses the previous record of 22.6 million employees in 2025 and could cost businesses upwards of US$5.2 billion in lost work and productivity, reports UKG.
Of those who may miss work on Super Bowl Monday, 13.1 million employees plan to take a pre‑approved day off, compared with 12.9 million in 2025 and 10 million in 2024. Another 6.5 million intend to swap shifts with a co‑worker, up from 4.8 million last year, based on the survey of 1,288 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 15‑20, 2026.
The survey finds 3.3 million people plan to call in sick despite not being ill, similar to 3.2 million in 2025, while 1.6 million say they will “ghost” work without notifying their employer, down from 3.2 million last year. In addition, approximately 4.9 million workers plan to arrive late without informing their manager in advance.
“Last year’s record-breaking prediction preceded Super Bowl LIX being the most-watched programme 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. “This year it appears that fewer employees plan to ghost work and others are proactively swapping shifts. 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.”
Plan ahead for employee absences
The UKG research suggests that earlier planning and clearer communication by managers could help reduce last‑minute call‑outs. More than half of employees (56%) say that if managers began coverage planning weeks before the Super Bowl, it would reduce last‑minute call‑outs at their workplace. A further 54% report that clear, early communication from their manager about Super Bowl coverage would make them less likely to call out or skip a shift.
UKG reports that 67% of employees agree their manager does “a good job recognizing how pop culture events, holidays, and other external factors can affect work.” Nearly two‑thirds of managers (63%) say they plan to ask employees directly about their Super Bowl time‑off plans this year, up from 56% in 2025. Still, 8.2 million employees say they will make a last‑minute decision about whether to work on Super Bowl Monday.
“That’s a lot of people waiting on the sidelines over their plans for Super Bowl Monday. There’s still time to drive active conversations with employees to ensure the business is covered,” Develin said.
Super Bowl Monday holiday
The survey shows that 48% of employees, up from 43% in 2025, say Super Bowl Monday should be a national holiday. UKG notes that this sentiment will be tested in 2027, when Super Bowl LXI coincides with Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day weekend, creating what it calls a “double-holiday weekend” likely to complicate labour planning.
“More than 80% of the workforce are in frontline roles where working holidays and weekends is the norm. Whether the Super Bowl is played on a holiday weekend or not, frontline-heavy organisations will need to employ creative staffing techniques,” Develin said. “Shift swaps are a practical reality for frontline teams — trading working Thanksgiving for Christmas, weekends for weekdays — yet other UKG research shows half (50%) of employees say it’s difficult to change shifts at the last minute.”
UKG’s findings also show many employees are reorganising their schedules around the game. The survey estimates that 6.6 million employees are swapping Sunday shifts with colleagues who want to watch the Super Bowl, while 18 million plan to work their Sunday night shift but watch at least some of the game. Three in five employees (60%) say they would volunteer to work during the Super Bowl if their organisation offered premium pay or another incentive for that shift.
UKG positions Super Bowl LX as the start of what it calls “The Year of Must-watch Absence,” warning that a series of major cultural and sporting events in 2026 could affect attendance beyond a single day. According to the survey, 26.2 million U.S. employees (16%) say the Winter Olympics could impact work, 18 million (11%) cite NCAA March Madness, and 36 million (22%) point to the FIFA World Cup. Thirteen million employees (8%) say a possible Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce wedding could also influence their attendance.
Workplace policy for sports events
Paul Gill, one of Employer Advice’s business consultants, suggests that one way employers can handle the impacts of sporting festivities in the workplace is to have a specific policy around it.
“For the policy to be successful, it should be enforced in a fair and consistent manner,” he says in a write up posted in the company website.
“This type of policy will typically cover rules around annual leave, as employees take time off to either watch events or in some cases travel out to watch them live. In this case, normal holiday procedure should apply; an example of this would be granting leave on a first come, first served basis.”
