March Madness, is it Good or Bad?
Brady Callen
March Madness. When most people hear those two words, they instantly think basketball, but what a lot of people don't think about, is how much of a distraction the games are. Everywhere, from high schools to the workplace, people will be watching basketball games on TVs, smartphones, and tablets. As for schools that may just be something else to distract kids that already aren’t paying attention, and might not have the big of an effect. But in the workplace, March Madness creates a huge negative externality.
All over the country Americans will be watching in place of working, which is bad right? Maybe not. Although lost wages are estimated to be around $1.2 billion for each unproductive hour, according to the consultant firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, there are positive outcomes of the games. March Madness can increase morale among workers, as their teams do better. Seeing your team prevail, or even just watching them play whether they win or not in the end can inspire you to work more, and better. It can also be a way for employees to bond. Assuming workers in one business cheer for the same team, they find similarities and work better together after the games. Going through the three weeks knowing that someone else is hoping for the same team to win allows you to connect with that person, which will then let you work better with them later. So after the inevitable decrease in productivity, there can perhaps be an increase that surpasses what it was in February for example. This positive externality is a nice counter to the negative one more commonly thought of.
Then there’s also things like sportswear sales, tournament ticket sales, hotels, and possibly even increased sales of TV’s to watch the games.
(graph)http://www.statista.com/statistics/219655/ncaabasketballtournamentgamesticketsale
s/
As you can see, not only do ticket sales create a lot of revenue, but the amount is also rising every year. Television revenue from the games is also rising from about $400 million ten years ago to about $684 million last year. If the increase stays relatively constant, in another ten years that number could be close to $1.2 dollars. The revenue generated from just television could equal lost wages of companies.
As the games begin, so does the distraction from work and school, and so does the team bonding between workers. Who will you be cheering on?
Bibliography:
● "Is March Madness Really Good for the Economy?." SmallBusiness. N.p., n.d. Web. 18
Mar. 2014.
<http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2011/03/15/ismarchmadnessactuallygoodfortheecon
omy/>.● "March Madness Could Cost Employers $1.2B." Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc..
N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.challengergray.com/press/pressreleases/marchmadnesscouldcostempl
oyers12b>
● "NCAA college basketball tournament TV/television revenue 2013." Statista. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/287522/ncaabasketballtournamenttelevisionrevenu
e/>.
● "NCAA college basketball tournament revenue from ticket sales 2013." Statista. N.p., n.d.
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<http://www.statista.com/statistics/219655/ncaabasketballtournamentgamesticketsal
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● "The New Republic." New Republic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117045/economiccostsandbenefitscollegebask
etballncaatournament>.
First off, you asked who I will be cheering for, but in my case I will not be cheering on anyone because I am not a fan of basketball and I have other productive things to do. You stated that March Madness games can bring people together by watching the games and cheering on the same teams, and I do agree with you on that. In this case though, it can cause distractions for work and school at the times of these games, which can lead to lack of motivation and future make-up work. Some individuals get very into these games because it only happens once a year and it is an exciting time, so it is understandable in some situations for people to loose focus on other things around them. This is a way for companies and businesses to get money from all of the fans supporting March Madness, and from reading the statistics there is a lot of money collected and it is rising more every year.
ReplyDeleteI've never really thought about the big distraction that would come from March Madness or the effect it would have economically, but I'm sure it's a big concern for many employers now. I think employers would also struggle because many of their employees would want to take a vacation to go to many of the games, which still increases the income of the NCAA. It's amazing, though, how much is lost in wages just from employees watching a basketball tournament.
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge distraction in every place. Around this time there is a million of kids who are watching march madness or talking about their brackets during class. This is causing huge distractions to classes and I'm assuming this is a problem when it comes to work too. On top of all of this there is a million of people who are taking vacations for spring break. I think that it is more of a distraction than a good thing and is something that should not be as popular as it is because of the huge distraction it causes.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of how March Madness could help or hurt the economy. I always just thought of it as a fun time to watch college basketball. But now that I think of it, march madness brings so much money in. All of the ticket sales, and even commercials on TV will bring in millions of dollars. Also I think it can be negative in workplaces but in a way it brings everyone together so it could build a workplace better.
ReplyDeleteI always knew March Madness was a huge distraction and as the games start today so will the productivity level in classrooms. It doesn't help that the tournament decides to put games on in the early morning or mid afternoon while everyone is at work and school because that affects many people in a negative way. Once March hits it's seems that March Madness is the only think people are talking about, and everything else is secondary to them. Even though I do enjoy watching the games and predicting who will win I also realize what an affect it does have on a lot of people. I always knew March Madness was popular but after seeing those numbers I didn't know that many people watched it nor did it make that much revenue. With the games starting even though I will be watching I'm going to try and make sure it doesn't have a negative externality on me.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness, like every sporting event, distracts the buyer from the dollar signs, toward the experience. I think march madness helps many different groups, it helps the universities by racking the dollars for merchandise, it helps arenas and local economies because people fly into the watch the games, and those who don't have the money spend their time at home watching the game, racking in the dollars for the broadcasting company. March madness is a win, win, win, win in my book.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting and relatable for me because just the other day I was helping my dad put together his brackets that his boss had organized for everyone in the office to participate in. The amount of time and energy and money put into this really surprised me and none of it was work related or would benefit the company- as you said it was simply a distraction. The money that was involved also surprised me- he had to pay in order to participate and if you fail to continue your bracket, you automatically lose money; this created almost a need to get on the computer and participate in this company-wide bracket. It seemed like a fun "team" activity but also a distracting one.
ReplyDeleteEvery year, everyone gets excited because it is March. That means March Madness. But with that excitement comes responsibility; people have to stay on task rather than being distracted and watching the games. Although the games are distracting for many people (especially if you are in a bracket pool), it is crucial that people stay on task and don’t fall behind on work. It also happens that the games are on, and it unites workers to watch and cheer on the same team, and that may help make people work better because they are watching their favorite team and they want that team to win. March Madness is a favorite time of the year for many people, which many people travel to cities to watch the games firsthand, which helps the economy of the city.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting to read as I don't follow basketball at all and don't know much about March Madness and how that works. I think it can become an issue like any thing you become fixated on - you put more focus into that one thing and therefore lose focus on other things. In this case such as school and work. So that is the opportunity cost of engaging in March Madness. These brackets have become extremely popular and because they are only happening once a year and constantly growing in the number of people participating. Bringing in more and more money for the companies involved.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness does prove to have a negative impact on productivity when it comes to work and school, but that doesn’t mean students, teachers and workers alike don’t get their work done. A lot of students have created brackets and talk about who they want to win, and yet they still manage to stay on task. Only when all their work is done do they go and watch the march madness games on the internet.
ReplyDeleteAfter filling out my own bracket this morning, I was really intrigued to see the topic of your post! I had never thought of March Madness in terms of economics before, but now I understand just how large of an impact that the tournament has on not only productivity in the workplace, but also the influence the tournament has on a consumer's decision to spend money. For those who decrease their productivity at work, they must view the tournament as having more marginal benefits than marginal costs to their job so they make the decision to get off task and watch a game. I think this is due to the rareness of the NCAA tournament since it only comes around once a year. The workers assume since it is only two weeks out of the whole year in which they will be distracted by the tournament that the benefits outweigh the costs. If the tournament happened two or three times a year, I think we would see many more people making the decision not to watch the games because it wouldn't be as unique and the costs of being off-task six weeks a year would outweigh the benefits of watching the tournament three times a year. So although the NCAA tournament may be seen as a distraction, I think employers should be grateful it is only an annual event. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMarch madness is hugely negative to my productivity but then again it is awesome. You get to bring up how some garbage school goes farther than your friends favorite school. It is such a great bonding time. I might watch a little too much march madness for my parents liking but it is all good. Also the amount of people that never do anything basketball related the fill out brackets is amazing. Great post on how march madness is terrible for certain peoples productivity but yet it still have a great economic impact on these cities.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness has to bring in a large amount of revenue. All the branding and advertising they are able to do during the month of march is astronomical. If other sports leagues did a tournament set up like the NCAA does, they would also be able to reel in the dough. If you look at things like the World Cup. I can't imagine they don't make a lump sum of money with their tournament setting, while something like the NBA playoffs may not make as much revenue because the way they play it is different.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness doesn’t just help the NCAA, a lot of revenue will also be occurring for the local stadium’s cities that host the games. Being one of the few cities that are lucky enough to host a March Madness basketball game will bring a large economic boost. People traveled to Milwaukee to watch the games and most likely stayed there to experience the city before and after the games. This tourism is great for Milwaukee’s economy. Even though workers and students will get distracted it will only be for the month, then back to normal productivity. I think the one month of scarcity in the work place is worth the one month with a surplus in our local economy.
DeleteYou definitely have the negative effects right, with more than 3/4 of the conversations I've heard today being nothing but basketball, but I'm not so sure about winning teams bringing productivity to their hometown workers. I would think that would lead to more celebration, and less work. However, with this being said, I think you're spot on with the amount of revenue March Madness brings. If this many people are nearly obsessing (I use this in a positive way) over the games, the number of sales for all things basketball must have exploded.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a very good point about how distracting March Madness can really be, but you counter it very well. It's true that strong connections can be made through cheering for the same teams and that this could lead to greater productivity among workers. I personally do not believe that March Madness is increasing worker productivity across the nation but it is a very good point. March Madness is good for the economy though. Like you say, the revenue generated from viewers is amazing and your statistics are very good. Overall, this is a great article and I believe March Madness is good for our economy.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article concerning March Madnesses's side effects. When the brackets are published schools and businesses begin to lose track of their job or objective. It was interesting to hear your thoughts about how it can be beneficial by bringing workers together rooting for the same teams to create better productivity but I must say I disagree. In our school most students are constantly on their phones and laptops watching the games and completely ignore there schoolwork. While March Madness is great for our economy, I don't believe its the best for our work ethic.
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