From a press release by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.:
The decision by CBS Sports to offer free online viewing of men’s college basketball games during the annual NCAA championship tournament (better known as March Madness) is great news for hoops fans but it could be disastrous for the nation’s employers, who will undoubtedly see a significant drop-off in worker productivity.
The cost of this productivity drain could prove to be substantial over the three weeks of the tournament. In fact, for every 13.5 minutes workers spend on the Internet watching March Madness games, which begin on March 16, the cost to employers in lost wages alone exceeds $237 million. Over the 16 days of the tournament that could reach as high as $3.8 billion, according to an estimate released Tuesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Now they should do an analysis on worldwide lost productivity caused by this summer’s World Cup (that’s soccer)!
BTW, the March-Madness-online link is here. Just click on the “Continue on to CSTV.com” button…