Every year, March Madness is one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year. And given that some of the first-round games take place during the day on Thursday and Friday, it obviously means some people are following the games from work. CNN seems to think that’s a problem.
On Saturday, CNN aired a report claiming that the March Madness basketball tournament would be costing employers an estimated 17.3 billion in “lost productivity” this year.
“We’re very distracted during this time of year. All of the time filling our brackets, doing the research – just to see the brackets get busted right into the tournament – and then watching the games during work hours. It’s costing employers in terms of lost productivity,” the report said.”Lost productivity up to $17.3 billion this year – that’s up a$1 billion from a year ago.”
“That’s because we have more Americans working than they did a year ago. Wages are also up, so that’s increasing lost productivity, and we’re spending more time researching our brackets,” the report said.
Naturally, the average sports fan was not very happy with this report. Some straight-up refused to believe the nebulous number while others had no problem with it even if it was true. Some people even suggested that if sports fans tried hard enough, they could cost employers even more next year!
But one thing was clear: CNN got absolutely roasted for the report.
challenging everyone i know to cost their employers more in productivity next year during the ncaa tournament https://t.co/C5wmIKqI5Z
— Bill DiFilippo (@billdifilippo) March 19, 2023
we could be costing them more, imo. time to up our game. https://t.co/XM1AvKxkeG
— Just For The Craic (@cdgoldstein) March 19, 2023
These numbers feel nearly impossible to prove. Even if they are provable, it’s quite clear that sports fans simply do not care and have no interest in a news network stumping for their employers.
[CNN]
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