Study: Alcohol-Related Crash Risk on Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl is consistently one of the most-watched television broadcasts in the United States, breaking its own records on a seemingly annual basis. Due to its popularity, Super Bowl watch parties are almost synonymous with the big game. According to the National Retail Federation, over 100 million people planned to throw or attend a Super Bowl Party last year – while millions more watched the game from a bar or restaurant.

For this reason, Super Bowl Sunday is a dangerous outlier for alcohol-impaired driving. At Bridger Law Group, we worked with data visualization firm 1 Point 21 Interactive to quantify the potential increase in risk. We analyzed over 6 million records in total from an 8-state sample of the three most recent years of collision data.

We identified a 13 percent increase in alcohol related crashes on Super Bowl Sunday over a typical Sunday, with a significantly elevated risk in the hours after the game ends.

What the Analysis Shows

On average across the eight states in our sample, total motor vehicle crashes on Super Bowl Sunday actually fell slightly – about a 2% decrease compared with a typical Sunday. At the same time, alcohol-related crashes rose by 13%, meaning that a larger share of the crashes that did occur involved impaired drivers. This pattern underscores that the Super Bowl changes who is crashing more than how many crashes there are.

Key Takeaways

The Super Bowl does not create a major increase in overall crashes, but it does create a clear spike in alcohol-related crashes.
Risk is highly time-dependent, with the two hours after the game representing the most dangerous period on the road.
Regional differences (such as a 21% increase in the South versus a slight decrease in the Midwest) suggest that local conditions matter for both risk and prevention.
The data support targeted interventions focused on the immediate post-game period, rather than treating the entire day as uniformly risky.

Regional Patterns

Regional patterns for the entire day varied. The South experienced the largest overall increase in alcohol-related crashes at 21%, while the Midwest saw a slight decrease, suggesting that local drinking cultures, driving patterns, and enforcement may shape the risk. These differences point to an opportunity for region-specific messaging and prevention strategies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

While overall risk varied, the alcohol-related crashes spiked in every region in the hours immediately following the game.

The Most Dangerous Hours

Time of day mattered more than the total number of crashes. Before the broadcast, alcohol-related crashes were actually lower than on a typical Sunday, with a 10% decrease 2 – 5 hours before the game and an 11% decrease in the two hours just before kickoff. During the game itself, alcohol-related crashes dipped slightly, with a 2% decrease, likely reflecting that many people are off the roads while they watch.

The picture changes sharply once the game is over. In the two hours following the broadcast, alcohol-related crashes surged by 85%, making this window the most dangerous part of the day by a significant margin. Even 2 to 5 hours after the game, alcohol-related crashes remained elevated, with a 17% increase compared with a typical Sunday.

Together, these patterns point to a concentrated, highly predictable spike in impaired driving as people leave parties, bars, and gatherings.

Safety Tips for Fans and Hosts

These findings translate into a few practical, evidence-informed safety steps for anyone planning to watch the game – whether at home, at a party, or at a restaurant or bar.

Plan a designated driver before the game starts. Decide in advance who will not drink and will handle all driving for the group. Use rideshare, taxis, or public transit as your default if no one can stay sober.
Assume risk even if you are not drinking. The spike in alcohol-related crashes means sober drivers face more impaired drivers on the road after the game. If you must drive home, be extra cautious: leave more following distance, watch for speeding or swerving cars, and avoid distractions.
Consider staying put after the game. If you are at a party, restaurant, or bar, lingering for a few hours after the game can help you avoid the most dangerous 2-hour window. Hosts can help by planning post-game food, coffee, and non-alcohol activities to keep guests from all trying to leave at once.
Be a proactive host. Offer plenty of food and appealing nonalcoholic drinks throughout the game. Take guests’ keys if they have been drinking and have a clear plan (guest rooms, couches, rideshares) so no one feels pressured to drive.
Support community efforts. Encourage friends and family to treat Super Bowl Sunday as a high-risk night, similar to New Year’s Eve. Share safety messages on social media, especially about the post-game danger window, and support enforcement campaigns that focus on impaired driving.

By recognizing that the real danger comes not from more crashes overall, but from more alcohol impairment in the crashes that do happen – and by targeting the hours right after the game – we can enjoy the Super Bowl while sharply reducing the odds that the night ends in tragedy.

Data Methodology and Fair Use

This study is based on a three-year sample of collision data from eight states – two states per U.S. region- to form a national sample. These states include California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Texas. Our analysis compared totals for Super Bowl Sunday to the average Sunday for all other weeks. Due to time zone differences, temporal trends were normalized to hours before and after the broadcast, rather than specific times of day. This difference in time zone may also contribute to the regional differences in crash patterns.

If you would like to share, report on, or republish this study or any of the data within, please link to this study, so readers may reference the full study.