Kelly Singh, 44, has no intention of playing hostess on Super Bowl Sunday.
"You won't find me in the kitchen on Super Bowl Sunday," Singh, who lives in Arizona, tells TODAY.com. "You won't find me in the kitchen on any Sunday. I prefer to just order the food in so I can sit down and enjoy the game."
For the mom of two girls, ages 17 and 18, Super Bowl Sunday is not a day to make sure everyone is fed, entertained and enjoying themselves.
Instead, the day is entirely and unapologetically for her.
"I want that Sunday to myself — to sit there and relax and have no responsibility," Singh, an avid NFL fan and fantasy football player, explains.
'I'm not missing any second of the action'
Singh is one of 84 million women who watch the NFL, according to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, accounting for 46% of the organization's total fanbase. According to one January survey of over 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Statistica, 75% of women said they would be watching the 2023 Super Bowl.
Still, Singh says she faces regular judgment and criticism as a result of her fandom, adding that many people assume she only likes watching football because "men do."
"Society continues to perpetuate that narrative, but women love football — they legitimately love football," she explains. "Sometimes they don't know how to go against that narrative without striking another chord with another narrative about being loud and bossy and not in 'their place.'"
Lindel Godfrey, 29, says she knows how it feels to be undermined and even challenged when she voices her love for the game.
"There's so many frustrating things that come with being a woman who watches sports," Godfrey, who lives in Oklahoma, tells TODAY.com. "You can't say it in passing out in public without a man being like: 'Oh, well who was the backup Heisman winner in 1986?'"
Godfrey enjoys every weekend of college and professional football. Her 8-year-old daughter often stays with her co-parent or grandmother on weekends so Godfrey can fully pay attention to the games.
"They all watch football casually, whereas I'm not missing any second of the action," Godfrey adds.
Godfrey, a paralegal, hasn't worked the Monday after the Super Bowl in years, she says. On Sunday morning, she said she will be in the kitchen making snacks a way to relieve her pre-game stress.
"One football starts, that's it — I'm done," she explains. "I'm not the hostess. Don't ask me questions — beers are in the fridge, food is on the table and my house isn't that big so you're not going to get lost. Once that football game starts, I'm on my posterior watching."
For moms who are looking to enjoy the game like Godfrey, Singh has some friendly suggestions:
“Give yourself permission to get a babysitter for that day,” she says. “I think that’s going to be key to your enjoyment. Tip number two: Order your food in — don’t spend all your time in the kitchen. Enjoy yourself.”
'She understands that it's part of who I am'
On Feb. 12, as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles, Godfrey will be watching the game with friends in Dallas.
"It's really fun to be with the group of people who I've talked to all year about these teams and who now, in the final summation of the season, I get to hang out with and watch the game I love," she adds.
Singh is also planning a kid-free weekend with friends in Arizona, having secured a press pass as the co-host of Women of Fantasy Football, a podcast for women who love the NFL as much as she does.
"We have plans to go down radio row and talk about Women of Fantasy Football and what our movement is and hopefully get other women excited about football," Singh says. "Getting women together and excited about football is kind of the purpose of this weekend."
Although both moms will spend Super Bowl Sunday without their daughters, each says that they know they're setting positive examples for their children.
"(My daughter) understands that it's part of who I am," Godfrey says. "She knows that I need that time and that it's important, so I'm just honest with her about mom needing that time. She's pretty in tune to it."
The same goes for Singh's two daughters, she says, adding that her daughters "talk about how cool it is to have a mom who goes her own way and does her own thing."
Singh's Women of Fantasy Football co-host, Faith Enes, planned on joining her for their Super Bowl girls' weekend, but ultimately couldn't make it.
Instead, Enes, 33, will spend the day with her best friend, a mom of four who plans on putting her partner on "dad duty" during the game.
"It's going to be one of those things where if the kids want something, dad is on duty," Enes tells TODAY.com. "They'll be watching the game with us, but mom is off the clock."
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