Make the Super Bowl a National Holiday

The Super Bowl is the most watched annual sporting event in the world most years. For many years, the Super Bowl has possessed a large US and global television viewership, and it is often the most watched television program of the year^. The game tends to have high Nielsen television ratings, which is usually around a 40 rating and 60 shares. This means that on average, 80 to 90 million people from the United States are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some a de facto American national holiday called “Super Bowl". It is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most watched event of the year. In 2011, the Super Bowl became the most-watched American television program in history, drawing an average audience of 111 million viewers and taking over the spot held by the previous year's Super Bowl, which itself had taken over the #1 spot held for twenty-eight years by the final episode of the hit television series M A S H. The Super Bowl is also among the most watched sporting events in the world, second only to UEFA Champions League final, also known as soccer to most Americans, and as the most watched annual sporting event worldwide.

Because of its high viewership, commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year. Due to the high cost of investing in advertising on the Super Bowl, companies regularly develop their most expensive advertisements for this broadcast. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast's commercials has become a significant aspect of the event. In addition, many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event's pre-game and halftime ceremonies because of the exposure. In press releases preceding each year's event, the NFL typically claims that that year's Super Bowl will have a potential worldwide audience of around one billion people in over 200 countries. The New York-based media research firm Initiative measured the global audience for the 2005 Super Bowl at 93 million people, with 98 percent of that figure being viewers in North America, which meant roughly 2 million people outside North America watched the Super Bowl that year. 2012's holds the record for total number of U.S. viewers, attracting an average U.S. audience of over 111 million and an estimated total audience of nearly 167 million, making the game the most-viewed television broadcast of any kind in American history.

The highest-rated game according to Nielsen was the Super Bowl in 1982, which was watched in 49.1 percent of households (73 share), or 40,020,000 households at the time. The Super Bowl has even made commercials famous. Prices have increased every year, with advertisers paying as much as $3.5 million for a thirty-second spot during Super Bowl in 2012. A segment of the audience tunes into the Super Bowl solely to view commercials.^[What other event in the world can say that. The Super Bowl halftime show is another event that a segment of the audience tunes in to solely see. Only Christmas has more hype, preparation, and celebration than the Super Bowl.