Indy-Area Schools, Businesses Brace for Super Bowl Monday

INDIANAPOLIS -- As we inch closer to the 2010 installment of the biggest annual single-day sports event in the country, Super Bowl fever is palpable here and in the surrounding suburbs. Central Indiana's beloved Colts will be taking on the New Orleans Saints Sunday in Miami, but the impact can be felt in all sectors of life back home.

Indianapolis Public Schools has delayed Monday's classes by one hour. They originally wanted to have a two-hour delay, but the state would not allow it. The rationale for the delay was pretty simple. Last time the Colts played in the Super Bowl, nearly half of the school district's bus drivers called in "sick" and the system couldn't find nearly enough replacements to provide transportation for all their students. Thus, this concession seems pretty reasonable.

Altering of schedules in light of a sporting event is not simply relegated to the educational system, though, as many local businesses prepare for a virtually wasted day.

Some offices are going to close altogether, making the Monday after the Super Bowl a de facto holiday for those employees. Others are planning to relax their office hours, as one office informed FanHouse it would work a 10-3 day instead of the usual 8-5. In polling a variety of employees from the Indianapolis-area, there were already noticeable differences in place from a "normal" work Monday, especially for those in sales jobs.

"My boss already canceled our usual 7 AM sales meeting," one respondent related. "And it is unlikely any sales guys will be near the office early in the morning."

"I just won't come in if I'm too sleepy/hungover," another replied via email.

"I'm a sales rep, and my manager had planned on riding with me all day, but canceled his trip to Indy because he knew we wouldn't get much done," a third said.

"We are still business as usual, but our VP of Sales canceled our bi-weekly Monday morning sales meeting," explained another. "Also, I think it is understood that several people will be utilizing a [vacation] day."

"Nothing has been said to this point," a financial analyst told FanHouse. "However, we're pretty lax in regards to this kind of stuff so, if some people come in an hour or so later, it shouldn't be that big of a deal."

FanHouse also received several replies from people who had already requested a vacation day and were granted the request, so the upcoming weekend will be one of the three-day variety for those.

Also of note, it's been pretty publicized that Monarch Beverage -- a highly successful liquor distributor -- has given its employees Monday off. This actually seems like more of a concession, though, in light of how much extra work people in the liquor business have likely been putting in leading up to Super Bowl weekend.

This isn't to say no one is working Monday, though. More than a handful of respondents to FanHouse's inquiry replied that their company has not mentioned anything about the upcoming "Super Bowl Monday" hangover effect.

"My company is business as usual," replied an industrial salesman.

"Those who haven't put in for a vacation day are expected to be here," a bank executive replied.

Still, there seems to be enough in terms of change here to create the argument that -- while the Super Bowl itself is great for the economy -- the game should be played on a Saturday. That way, proponents of a change would argue, these business won't have to alter their approach to a seemingly "normal" Monday. Sunday would serve as a buffer or recovery day, if you will.

In making this argument, though, you'd be ignoring one large portion of the business world: restaurants and bars.

"It's an extra day of business for us," said Doc Weesner, general manager of Ike and Jonesy's, a downtown Indianapolis bar that usually isn't even open on Sundays.

"We've got food specials, beer specials, 11 flat screen TVs ... we plan to fill the place," Weesner went on.

He's expecting to fill at least the 140 seats they have, and they can also accommodate up to 100 standing room patrons for the big game.

Through this lens, the economic impact of the Super Bowl can be seen. It's a big boost to bars and, like it or not, that type of a business is a big boost to our economy. Moving the game to Saturday would totally eliminate a revenue stream that might be the biggest of the calendar year.

"Normal Saturday crowds aren't a lot different than what we expect for the Super Bowl," Weesner added.

Now, perhaps some people would rather just eliminate "Super Bowl Monday" as a workday -- and you can sign an online petition to make it a national holiday, by the way -- but some businesses likely would prefer the option. There's also some whispering about moving the Super Bowl to the weekend preceding President's Day, but, frankly, the NFL isn't going to extend itself that far, nor should it. The two week gap between conference championships and the Super Bowl is plenty and it's not the NFL's job to help other businesses.

All in all, the Monday after the Super Bowl is just one of those days -- like the Thursday and Friday during the first week of March Madness -- where businesses just have to accept the very real impact a great sporting event can have on their business. Each can decide on their own if it's worthwhile to close or fight through the presumable futility.