Teen's Petition To Move Super Bowls To Saturdays Has Over 20K Signatures
Looking at the petition's visuals and write-up on the Change.org page above, I almost want to say this is some sort of troll job created by PFT Commenter..
But no, it's another #FootballGuy by the name of Frank Ruggeri. The 16-year-old from upstate NY was talkin' playoffs with his family over dinner one night when he brought up what a bummer it is to have to stay up so late on a school night for the Super Bowl. Gotta say, I do wonder... why is this big game with such a hugely party-oriented culture around it always stuck on a Sunday night?
According to CNN:
Historically, professional football games have always been on Sundays. You can thank Congress for that.
In 1961, Congress passed the Sports Broadcasting Act. The law helped set the NFL broadcasting schedule for Sundays to protect the fans of college and high school football.
The law barred the broadcasting of professional games played on Fridays and Saturdays during the schools' seasons. The Super Bowl is well after the school football season, though.
So wait... technically it really could be moved to Saturday??
Adding to that little nugget of info, Frank did his homework for the case:
"He has a lot of passion in his heart," his dad, Frank Ruggeri said. "When he gets on one thing, he really sticks with it."
Frankie started researching statistics to make his Super Bowl Saturday case stronger. He learned some compelling things.
In 2019, a survey found more than 17 million US employees may miss work the day after the Super Bowl LII, according to The Workforce Institute.
He also cited an increase in automobile accidents after the game, and I get it… On a Saturday you could stay over at a friend's place or get a hotel for the night & stay put… But on Sundays after the Super Bowl parties people think they have to get home so they can be ready for work the next day, and terrible choices are made.
Right now the petition is doing pretty well & he'll easily hit his goal as more people roll in…
As a person who either ate wayyy to many pigs in blankets & felt sick the next day at school as a kid, and who now accidentally gets ripped at these things every year as an adult, I've given it some thought & have made my decision….
Alright Frankie, I signed. I'm Team Saturday now, too.