The 2012 NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament kicks off tomorrow at noon EDT and the nation is abuzz with talk of brackets, brackets and more brackets. An online survey conducted by Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive on behalf of CouponCabin reveals that the stakes are higher than ever this year for those wagering on the games and over one-third of respondents are more than willing to mix work and play.
One-third (33 percent) of U. S. adults plan to watch at least one March Madness game this year, with men (48 percent) being significantly more likely to do so than women (20 percent). The stakes for betting on the tournament will be higher this year, as 31 percent of those who plan to bet money said they plan to bet more money than in years past. Overall, more than one-quarter (26 percent) of those who plan to watch said they plan to bet money on the tournament.
Those wagering on the tournament know that the odds of picking winners of so many games can be challenging. In fact, 43 percent of those who have bet on March Madness said they have never won any money and 62 percent said they have lost money. On the flip side, 22 percent said they have won between $1 and $50, while 17 percent said they have won $201 or more.
Those betting on March Madness will likely be watching the games closely, and many others will follow the action from the workplace. Of employed adults, nearly two-in-five (38 percent) said they plan to watch March Madness games at work, whether on their computer or on a TV in the break room. Others are willing to forgo work to watch the games. Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) said they would skip work to watch March Madness games, either using paid-time-off (13 percent) or if they knew they wouldn’t get caught (11 percent).
Not only do employed adults use their office hours to watch the games, they also spend time researching matchups while on the job. Forty-five percent said they have spent time researching March Madness matchups while at work. Twenty-one percent said they have spent more than two hours, 23 percent said they have spent between one and two hours.
This isn’t the first year March Madness will threaten productivity but there’s little talk of what employers are doing to thwart it. What is it about tournament time that makes not working at work seem acceptable? Have you filled out a bracket? Do you have money riding on the games? Will March Madness interfere with your work?