March 19th, 2008 - Money Madness
Everyone points to the Super Bowl as
being the big daddy of all moneyed sporting
events. However, even considering the
colossal economic impact it has on the
U.S. economy, it is a poor second to
the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Ya wanna talk money? Forget the pros.
From a wagering point of view, what
begins Thursday at 11:55am ET is as if
an entire NFL football season was crammed
into sixteen days. Last March, Nevada
bettors wagered more than $228 million
on the tournament and with online and
office pools, hundreds of millions, if
not billions more.
Just how big has it gotten? One survey
this week has forty-eight percent of
all U.S. employees participating in an
NCAA pool at work this year. Almost half
of the American working force is consumed
by a basketball tournament.
And there are still questions about
how America could go into recession?
According to another study, based on
the time millions of workers take filling
out brackets and checking out games results
online, the 16 days of the tourney could
cost America's employers $1.7 billion
in lost productivity.
$1.7 billion. That's a big number.
The problem is, those pencil necks based
their results on some weirdly conservative
numbers: 28.3 million to 37.3 million
participants taking a total of 10 minutes
on their brackets and results.
Try twice as many players. And only
ten minutes? More like ten hours.
Surf
over to our NCAA Basketball Handicapping
Forums & Join In The Discussion!!!
First off, who has ever filled out their
bracket in ten minutes? This year it's
going to take at least that amount of
time to figure out that Stephen Austin
is actually a school and not the $6-million
man.
Second, dozens of games are streamed
online live for all to see during working
hours. With half of America's employed
trying to get the broadband stream all
at once, that ten minutes will be taken
up by just loading the site.
So forget $1.7 billion. With enough
nail biting finishes and triple overtime
games - all those lost man-hours could
drive the U.S. into a full-fledged depression.
Yet, what we are all drooling over isn't
only about big money from and for the
poolies.
Tournament sites rake it in as well,
taking in about $15-20 million in hotel
room and restaurant revenues.
The schools are also in the money. Before
the George Mason University Patriots
made their Cinderella run to the Final
Four two years ago, pretty much the only
folks who had heard of the Virginia college
were Mason's immediate family.
Now, due to its high profile performance,
according to USA Today, admission inquiries
have jumped 350%. Active alumni increased
by 25%, and the university earned an
estimated $667-million in national, regional
and local broadcasts.
$667-million. If CBS wanted to make
their Road to the Final Four special,
really special on Sunday night, instead
of having their cameras focused on the
players waiting for their team names
to be called, they should have put them
on the school's chancellors and presidents.
Octogenarians high-fiving and belly-bumping?
Must see TV.
For CBS, streaming those games online
will earn them an estimated $21-million
alone. Pile on the money they make from
on-demand, regular, cable and digital
TV revenues, their take will be an estimated
$545 million.
Most of that money goes to the NCAA,
who are in the middle of an 11-year rights
contract worth $6 billion. They also
get all the ticket and merchandise revenues
- and although they don't reveal how
much that brings in, it's purported to
be in the hundreds of millions.
So - where does all that money go?
Four percent is distributed to athletic
programs out of something called the
Special Assistance Fund for schools who
are not as high profile (like George
Mason before 2006). That's about $12-million.
The other ninety-six percent goes to
the teams that did the best in the tournament.
Or in other words, since Cinderellas
are so rare, the rich schools and programs
just get richer.
The March Madness Tournament could generate
over $10-billion dollars of business
in 2008.
It's almost hard to believe that some
who are directly involved actually don't
make out like bandits.
The players do get free room and board
however.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
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