March Madness Could Cost Employers $4B in Lost Productivity

The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has put out a report saying that workers distracted by their college basketball March Madness brackets are going to cost businesses billions in revenue. This firm estimates that about 20% of the U.S. work force is involved in an office March Madness pool this year, a number that has grown in recent years. Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that the loss in workers productivity due to March Madness related distractions totaled nearly $4 billion dollars in revenue during the opening week. The outplacement firm also estimated that every hour of the workday that gets devoted to March Madness will cost employers $1.3 billion in revenue. Ultimately Challenger, Gray & Christmas recommends that employers embrace the basketball tournament stating "Efforts to suppress the 'madness' would most likely result in long-term damage to employee morale, loyalty and engagement that would far outweigh any short-term benefit to productivity,".

It certainly seems like March Madness has been growing in popularity over the years, but I have never thought of its economic impact in terms of costing business billions in revenue. Previously I had only thought about the tournament from the economic standpoint of the revenue added into the economy or the amount of money wagered on the games. This report is really eye-opening in terms lending some insight into how a big sporting event like the March Madness impact the typical American work day, and how that impact can add up and result in billions of dollars lost.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/march-madness-could-cost-employers-4b-lost-productivity-n538021