MASON CITY, IA--
For many football fans, both the casual and the cult-like, Super Bowl Sunday is a time to pile on the couch, grab that remote and settle in. “Having a few friends over and we're comfortable this way,” said Wade Ficken, who was planning on watching the game from home. “We have our own couch and our TV and all of our good food.”And 2010 may just be the year of the home body. A Nielsen Company survey shows nine out of ten Americans are watching the game from home or that of a friend or relative. “A lot of people want to stay at home and not have to travel out, especially if you live in Iowa so this way you're out of the snow,” said Ficken.
Instead of at a bar or restaurant. “Just the weather and the economy and all that stuff, I'm not surprised by it at all,” said Jana Erickson, an employee at Pappa’s American Café, when told of the survey.
While Erickson says she knows many people like to watch the competition from the comforts of home, she says they're actually seeing a steady stream throughout the day. “We have our people that come in all the time that like to come in and watch,” she said.
There are expectations for more restaurant activity pre game. “We'll probably start getting a little bit busier around 5 or 5:30 and people will come in and just hang out and watch the game,” she said.
But it appears most other football fans are spending the day like Ficken and his friends.
