Short Work Week
Well, not for all of us, but for many, this may be the last full day of work this week. Sure, they may show up…but they won’t be paying attention.
That’s because March Madness—the NCAA men’s basketball tournament—gets going in full swing, with 16 games each on Thursday and Friday. And a survey from the Action Network, a top sports betting and media brand, says the U.S. economy will lose up to $20 billion over those days due to lost productivity.
They surveyed some 3,000 college basketball fans who work full time. A full 40 percent of them admitted to calling in sick to watch a March Madness game. In addition, they spend 2.4 hours per day on average doing things related to the event, from checking scores and updating their brackets to live-streaming games on smartphones and computers when they think no one is looking.
And talk about eye strain—nearly a quarter of the working fans, 23 percent, average four or more hours a day watching games. It’s even easier than ever for fans to watch. The official app allows you to watch multiple games at a time on nearly any device, and all games are shown live on one of four channels, including CBS and TBS.
According to Bureau of Labor data obtained by Action Network, the average worker watching March Madness costs the U.S. economy an estimated $1,801.30…that’s how they come up with the $20 billion total figure.
Talk about March Madness.
