Super Bowl vs. Homework: Which Takes Precedence in US Households?

The Super Bowl is this weekend, and families across the country will gather in their living rooms to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers duel it out on the football field for the title of 2021 NFL champs on Sunday.

Last year, homework help and online learning community Brainly surveyed 1,000 US parents with kids enrolled in K-12 public school to find out how the Super Bowl would impact their child’s studies, homework habits, and school routine. Now, ahead of Super Bowl LV, Brainly has surveyed another 1,000 US parents to find out how their thoughts and attitudes have changed this year compared to last.

The survey revealed dramatic year-over-year changes in parents’ willingness to let their kids stay up late or skip homework to watch the Super Bowl, among other things. Some of the insights include:

>> OVERTIME > BEDTIME. Approximately 75% of US parents say they will let their children stay up later than normal in order to watch the Super Bowl, which is a 10% increase over last year (61%).

>> HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE. The five states where most parents said their kids can skip homework to watch the Super Bowl:

1. Missouri (65%)

2. Florida (64%)

3. Kansas (62%)

4. Texas (56%)

5. Alabama (55%)

Last year, the top five states where parents said their kids could skip homework to watch the Super Bowl were: Missouri (60%), Kansas (58%), Texas (57%), California (52%), and Colorado (51%).

>> INCOMPLETE HOMEWORK = PENALTY. Roughly 80% of parents say their child must complete all of their homework before they can watch the Super Bowl. This number is about the same as it was in 2020.

>> MORE PLAY, LESS WORRY. Nationwide, only about 35% of parents think the Super Bowl might negatively impact their child’s sleep or leave them feeling ill-prepared for school the following morning.

In 2020, this number was much larger with about 45% of parents saying they were worried about the Super Bowl having adverse effects on their child’s school routine the following day. “Perhaps parents are less worried this year because they know there are countless online resources to get their kids back up to speed and teachers have been more lenient with online coursework,” says Quinn.

“The Super Bowl is such a big American event, that it’s almost considered an official holiday…. almost. Though America sees Super Bowl Sunday as a day where work stands still, students have to return to school the following Monday, and assignments are still due," he says. "It’s good for students to prioritize homework this weekend so they can enjoy the game on Sunday."