Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan 10PM Bar Closure Order Will Likely Affect Viewing Final Minutes of Super Bowl

Michigan bar goers may miss the final minutes of Sunday’s Super Bowl because of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) 10:00 p.m. closure order.

Whitmer’s latest edict requires bars and restaurants to close by 10:00 p.m. and to operate at 25 percent capacity, 9 & 10 News reported.

Sunday’s big game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern and will feature the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Tampa, Florida.

According to Sports Illustrated, the average Super Bowl over the past five years has lasted three hours and 39 minutes, which would mean the average ending time would be 10:09 p.m.

If the game goes into overtime, it could end even later.

“At halftime, people probably have to make a decision whether they want to stay until 10:00 and maybe miss that last four or five minutes of the game, or go home at halftime,” Sunny’s Bar and Grill owner Jesse Kailing told 9 & 10 News.

Kailing hopes more viewers will turn out to his Reed City establishment since Whitmer’s weeks-long ban on in-person dining was partially lifted on Monday.

“With the Super Bowl coming up, I can see a lot of people kinda waiting to go out for the first time,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

In Los Angeles County, health officials are allowing bars and restaurants to be open during the Super Bowl, but have banned the use of televisions.

The LA Daily News reported:

Los Angeles County health officials, aiming to prevent large groups of outdoor diners from gathering to watch the Feb. 7 Super Bowl and other sports events, added a “no big-screen TV” rule to the much-anticipated revision of its pandemic-era health order aimed at limiting spread of the coronavirus.

Taken by surprise, the new restriction irked some businesses whose bottom lines rely on big-screen TVs to draw crowds.

“That’s a problem, I didn’t know that,” Brewz Sports Cafe & Grill owner Monica Zavala said, telling the paper she has 11 TVs in her outside patio.

“It’s completely counterproductive, especially with the Super Bowl coming up. They might as well have stayed with the shutdown,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidelines for the game and frowned upon cheering.

“Avoid chanting or cheering. Stomp, clap, or bring hand-held noisemakers instead,” the CDC said.

The agency recommended only having outdoor festivities and even then, wearing a mask beneath a scarf or ski mask.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays—download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.