Future Super Bowls to fall on Presidents Day Sundays?

A Vince Lombardi Trophy is seen outside SoFi Stadium. The stadium will host Super Bowl LVI in 2022. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Future Super Bowl games to fall on Presidents Day Sundays?

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 3/30/21

Barring a surprising development, NFL owners will soon vote to approve expanding the regular season to 17 games, which will delay the completion of playoff tournaments and set Super Bowl dates back by one week. For example, Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles will be moved from Feb. 6 to Feb. 13 next year because the NFL is not adding a second bye week to the schedule.

As Mark Maske of the Washington Post noted, this change that had been rumored for years brings a bonus for football fans around the country: Future Super Bowl contests occurring on Presidents Day Sundays and over three-day weekends.

Next year's Super Bowl would fall one week before Presidents' Day weekend. But in other years, the Super Bowl would fall on the Sunday right before Presidents' Day. https://t.co/hDrvUXka4X
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) March 30, 2021

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated's MMQB pointed out the dates don't line up every year under the NFL's current format.

Having the Super Bowl on Presidents Day Weekend would require either a 19-week schedule (TV networks don't want that), or moving the start of the season back a weekend, since Presidents Day's always the third Monday in February.

So if this happens, another change has to come. https://t.co/Br9RKJu6fd
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 30, 2021

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio added:

"Presidents’ Day lands on the third Monday in February, and the Super Bowl will land on the second Sunday in February. Thus, the Super Bowl and Presidents’ Day will line up when Super Bowl lands on February 14, Valentine’s Day. Which is exactly what would have happened in 2021. That happens again in 2027, 2038, 2044, 2049, 2055. Thus, when the league adds an 18th game, those will be the years when Presidents’ Day weekend happens a week before the Super Bowl."

The NFL has long avoided starting regular seasons over Labor Day weekend when many would-be viewers are enjoying vacations or outdoor activities away from televisions. Despite this, there remains plenty of scenarios for a calendar that includes 20 combined preseason and regular-season games and a playoff competition that ends with the Super Bowl traditionally played on Presidents Day Sunday.

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