March Madness, is it Good or Bad?
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.
Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/219655/ncaabasketballtournamentgamesticketsal
es/>.
● "The New Republic." New Republic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117045/economiccostsandbenefitscollegebask
etballncaatournament>.
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.
Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/219655/ncaabasketballtournamentgamesticketsal
es/>.
● "The New Republic." New Republic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117045/economiccostsandbenefitscollegebask
etballncaatournament>.
0 Response to "March Madness, is it Good or Bad?"
Post a Comment