Monday should be a national holiday. 

So should Election Day, but no politics this week. What a clown show. 

This is about the Super Bowl. One of the last American tent poles. An event so huge I should’ve called it “The Big Game,” lest the NFL’s boogeymen come calling.

Super Bowl Monday is a no-brainer. The money it would pump into the economy – particularly bars, travel, et cetera – would be enormous. Sure, we’d lose a collective day of productivity, but let’s be honest, 30% of the working population will be hungover anyway.

If you want to be a buzzkill on this idea, fine. The NFL should just figure out how to juggle the schedule to land the Super Bowl on President’s Day weekend. Or screw it. Move up the holiday. Let’s give Washington and Lincoln a Millennial-style “Birthday Month.” They earned it. 

If the NFL really wanted to be bold – and possibly genius – they’d stage the occasional Super Bowl overseas. Dropping the whole weeklong spectacle on Paris or Tokyo would do 100X more to grow the game globally than a Week 4 Jaguars-Titans tilt. No offense, Jags fan.

Purists would scream about local fans being unable to attend. Whatever. The Super Bowl crowd is mostly corporate anyway. And if you’re the rare die-hard beer-guzzler dropping nine grand on a nosebleed seat, what’s another $1,500 for an international flight?

Of course, you’d have to deal with the bloviating sliver of our political spectrum throwing a tantrum on Twitter about it being un-American. Boycott threats would abound. All from the same people who swore they’d never watch the NFL again because of Colin Kaepernick. Some bluffs are easy to call.

The only argument I can’t easily untwist is the loss of economic development dollars for a U.S. host city. Dallas will survive.

Would it be a risk? Maybe. But everything the NFL touches turns to gold. They’re arguably the second smartest and most influential marketers in the world…after Taylor Swift. (Seriously. Announcing her new album in a Grammy acceptance speech? Master class.)

Vegas is cool and all, but a Taylor Swift Super Bowl in Rio would’ve shaken the Earth off its axis. Maybe next year, if Travis Kelce doesn’t screw it up and the Chiefs upgrade at wide receiver.

Or maybe never. But I wouldn’t bet against it…someday.

For now, I’m just calling for a new federal holiday: Super Bowl Monday.

This message is brought to you by Dick for President.

Here’s what we’re seeing:

Consumer financial health is shaky, to say the least. When we were among the first, three years ago, to say that widespread fears of an imminent recession were unfounded, many in the economics world ignored us. Americans’ financial health – and their outlook – was strong. And we were right. Now, I’m not ready to say a recession is around the corner, but there are certainly some troubling signs. Rising credit card (and lingering student loan) debt is beginning to rear its ugly face. Holiday retail was worse than anticipated. And inflation isn’t falling at its torrid 2023 pace. As a result, consumers’ financial outlook has been in a post-holiday dive. 

In other news we foretold three-plus years ago, streaming is turning into cable. We weren’t alone in this prediction – the inevitability of bundled streaming services became evermore likely as the options and costs increased. This week’s news of an ESPN-Fox-Warner Bros. streaming trifecta is likely the first of many to come, particularly if our consumer intent numbers play themselves out. Among cord-cutters who’ve heard about the new sports-centric service, 52% say they’re at least somewhat likely to subscribe. Those are strong numbers, bigger than what we saw for HBO Max and even Disney+ when they were first announced. Expect more bundles to come. 

Intent to watch the Super Bowl is down this year, but I’ll bet the over. Thirty-six percent of Americans say they’re “very likely” to tune into the game on Sunday, down from 42% last year. The percentage of women who are “somewhat likely” to watch is up 3%, while the percentage of Republicans is down overall 13%…presumably for the same reason. In other Super Bowl insights, the Nickelodeon simulcast should be a hotbed for advertisers. And, while intent to bet on the game is up – a concerning number of those bettors report being worried about paying off their holiday debts. 

Speaking of financial literacy, it could solve a lot of our problems. The percentage of Americans who consider themselves financially literate has fallen (slightly) over the past year. The age splits are interesting – older Millennials and younger Xers believe they have the highest financial literacy. Younger Gen Zs are polarized on the matter. What’s not surprising is that the most financially literate people are also the most financially secure. There’s more good stuff in this study than I can cover here. It’s a primary education problem, plain and simple.

The way people diet has changed dramatically over the last decade. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we went way back in time to see how Americans change their eating habits when looking to lose weight. Avoiding carbs and cutting calories have fallen out of vogue, while focusing on a balanced diet and protein has steadily climbed. We also highlighted rising concerns among Republicans about “deepfakes” during the upcoming election and the pros and cons of brands using Gen Z slang in their ads.  

Going deeper into dieting, GLP-1s are beginning to reveal their impact on snacking. This is another study you should just read for yourself. The first chart is crazy. If you don’t subscribe to our GLP-1 Tracker, here’s a freebie. You’re welcome.

More awesomeness from the InsightStore™ this week:

  • Women are buying more gifts for themselves this Valentine’s Day;
  • One in four people made it through Dry January, thanks to sparkling water and weed;
  • A plurality of Americans are rooting for the Chiefs and other SB fan insights.

The most popular questions this week:

What’s your favorite type of chicken wing sauce?

Have you ever traveled alone to another country?

How important is it, if at all, for you to have different groups of friends?

Do you tend to pair your outfits with black sneakers or white sneakers?

What’s your favorite flavor of bagel?

Answer Key: Spicy Garlic Parm; A few times; Very; White; Everything.

Hoping you’re well. 

JD

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