Italy vs NFL: US Athletes’ Biggest Choice?

The 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, a winter festival for people around the world, is in full swing, but the U.S. athletes are barely able to resist the fact that TV catches their attention instead of the ice and snow fields.

This is because the National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl, the largest sporting event in the United States, is held.

The problem is time difference. This Super Bowl, in which the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks face off, will kick off at 0:30 a.m. on the 9th, local Italian time.

It’s time for players to go to bed to get in shape before the next day’s game, but the problem is that they don’t want to miss the moment of their hometown team’s victory.

Jack DiGregorio, the U.S. luge national team member, is a representative New England fanatic.

A Massachusetts native, he has a deep connection to the team, as his mother worked as a team employee for over 20 years.

In an interview with the Associated Press, DiGregorio expressed his will to be a live shooter, saying, “If I wake up to go to the bathroom, I can sneakily turn on the game.”

This year’s U.S. Olympic team includes 15 people from Massachusetts, home to New England, and 8 people from Washington state, home to Seattle.

Corey Dropkin, the U.S. national curling team member, said, “I won’t be able to watch the game because it’s too late, but I will wear my New England uniform and cheer on while sleeping.”

Charlie McAvoy of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team said, “I’m considering going to bed early and waking up at 5 a.m. to watch the second half of the game.”

The players’ families have also become busy.

Mark Henderson, the father of Grace Henderson, the U.S. national freestyle skiing team member, paid extra money to a bar in Livigno, Italy and asked them to open in the early morning.

About 20 families gathered together to enjoy the Super Bowl all night long.

This is the second time in history that the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics schedules overlap, following the 2022 Beijing Games.

As the NFL regular season schedule becomes longer than in the past, it is expected that it will be difficult to avoid schedule conflicts between the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, which will be held in February.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also concerned about the clash of major sporting events.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said, “Large events are overlapping with each other,” and pointed out, “It is time for the sports world to discuss as a family how to coordinate schedules and not compete with each other.”