1. March Madness
By the numbers…

2. 50 million
Total estimate of the number of people who participated in some kind of bracket pool during the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in 2011

3. 170 million
Estimated number of people who tuned in to watch at least some part of last year’s NCAA tournament

4. 60 million
Estimated number of Americans expected to participate in “office pools” during this year’s tournament

5. $3 billion
Estimated amount of money spent in bets made in “office pools” in the United States

6. $100 million
Amount of money wagered legally in the state of Nevada on NCAA men’s basketball tournament games in 2011

7. 3
Number of illegal online gambling websites the United States Federal Government shut down in the past month, just in time to thwart some of the activity typically taking placing during March Madness

8. 67%
A recent survey found that nearly 67% of business IT departments take specific action to block their employees from streaming March Madness content

9. 40%
Nearly 40% of responders to the same survey suggested employees streaming the annual basketball event have led to company wide network disruptions and/or failures

10. $3.99
It will cost fans a one-time fee of $3.99 to stream all 67 tournament games live to their iPhone, iPad and Android phones

11. $3.99
It will cost fans a one-time fee of $3.99 to stream all 67 tournament games live to their iPhone, iPad and Android phones

12. 1
Number of Facebook apps launched by Dove’s Men+Care grooming brand that help you skip work to watch NCAA tournament (with a little help from Shaq who will “call” your boss to say the two of you will not be coming in that day)

13. $770 million
Forecasters are expecting the tournament to generate over $770 million in advertising revenue

14. $20 million
The 2012 NCAA Women’s Final Four is expected to bring nearly $20 million in economic impact to the Greater Denver area

15. 35 million
The number of Americans taking part in college basketball tournament office pools, according to a 2011 NCAA estimate

16. $1.4 - $3.8 billion
Estimates range anywhere from $1.4 billion to $3.8 billion on lost employee productivity each March as employees spend hours betting in office pools, watching games online, checking scores, and trash-talking with fellow sports fans

17. 8.4 million
The estimated number of work hours spent watching NCAA Tournament games in 2011, according to the “March Madness Productivity Report” from business consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas

18. 92%
The percentage of online NCAA basketball tournament viewing that’s done while at work

19. $10.8 billion
CBS and Turner spent $10.8 billion for broadcast rights to the NCAA Tournament (length of the contract is 14 years)

20. $10.8 billion
CBS and Turner spent $10.8 billion for broadcast rights to the NCAA Tournament (length of the contract is 14 years)

21. 8%
8 percent of respondents to a recent poll suggested they will spend more than $100 this year on bracket pools

22. 42%
42 percent of respondents to the same poll suggested they won’t spend a dime

23. $5 million
Yahoo! Sports is offering fans a $5 million prize to anyone who correctly picks a perfect tournament bracket (entries must be submitted on their website)

24. Questions for
Class Discussion

25. How do you think March Madness contributes to a drop in worker productivity in the American workplace?
Do you agree with the possibility of the tournament costing employers billions? Why or why not?

26. What is social media?
Why do you think tracking the number of consumers who follow the tournament via some form of social media is important to the NCAA? To a broadcast company like CBS or Turner Sports? What about for advertisers/marketing professionals?

27. What are broadcast rights
What are broadcast rights? Why do you think CBS and Turner invested so much in the rights to the NCAA Tournament?
Why do you think the rights to stream games online was important to CBS?

28. What is economic impact
What is economic impact? Why is it an important concept when it relates to mega events like the Super Bowl, Olympic Games and NCAA Tournament?
Why do you think Yahoo! Sports is offering $5 million to any fan who correctly picks a perfect bracket, especially if it doesn’t cost fans any money to submit an entry?