“疯狂三月”令人无心上班，美国企业损失将达数十亿美元

美国的NCAA联赛又开打了，今年有几支赛前被看好的种子队意外爆冷落马，这也让很多想在办公室赌局里大赢一把的职场人赔得血本无归。

由于NCAA比赛的时间是从下午到深夜，全美国将有不少员工请假回家看直播（或者边上班边看），以免错过比赛。

常看美剧的网友都知道，NCAA虽然只不过是大学联赛，但美国人民却对它有异乎寻常的喜爱。到了赛季时，大家经常埋头钻研赛程表，仔细观看每一场比赛，阅读相关的报道，紧盯球队的排名。NCAA每年带来的全国范围的竞猜热，又被称为“疯狂三月”。据金融网站WalletHub估算，今年“疯狂三月”导致美国企业员工产出下降的损失合计将达到63亿美元。

不过这也并非全然是坏事。俗话说“小赌怡情”，同事们一起分析竞猜，凑个小赌局，也有助于培养办公室的友情。据任仕达美国公司调查，“三月疯狂”期间的办公室赌局让84%的员工更快乐了。

办公室赌局只是“疯狂三月”给经济带来的影响的冰山一角。在全美范围内，“疯狂三月”已经成了一笔规模惊人的生意。今年，美国人民预计将填写7000万份赛程表，很多人都围绕赛程竞猜下注赌博。据美国博彩协会称，今年美国人押宝在NCAA上的赌注总计将达到100亿美元，几乎达到了“超级碗”通常下注金额的两倍，当然这些钱基本都是非法赌资。

另外比赛本身也是钱。如果你想到现场看球，平均一张球票的价格是212美元。为了满足圣东安尼奥球迷的需求，将有额外130万桶啤酒被生产出来，供应当地各大酒吧。作为四强赛的举办城市，和比赛有关的各个相关产业也必然能赚到不少钱。据WalletHub估算，圣东安尼奥通过举办四强赛，预计将带来1.35亿美元的直接经济效益。

至于我们这些普通群众，最应该感谢的是CBS电视台和特纳广播公司，是他们花196亿美元买下了2032年以前的NCAA电视转播权，使我们在家里就能看到实况转播——当然，如果你选择在单位偷偷看，我们也不会鄙视你的。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎 

The Sweet Sixteen is upon us, and with lower seed upsets making headlines throughout the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, many a dream of winning the office pool has already been dashed.

But with games running from noon until after midnight Eastern time, employees across the country will still be taking time off work (or taking time during work) to keep up with the tournament.

In fact, American workers will spend on average of about six hours focusing on basketball during the tournament—checking brackets, watching a game online, reading coverage, and verifying team rankings, according to staffing firm OfficeTeam. This year, the financial site WalletHub has estimated that those distracted employees will cost U.S. businesses a total of $6.3 billion.

But the impact isn’t all bad. Bracket-building and office betting can also foster camaraderie. March Madness office betting makes 84% of employees happier in their jobs, according to a Randstad USA survey.

And workplace speculation is only the tip of the iceberg of the economic impact of March Madness. Across the country, its scale is remarkable: This year 70 million brackets are expected to be completed. Many people will bet on those brackets. Ten billion dollars is how much will be wagered on the basketball tournament this year, nearly all of it illegally, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s two times more than is typically wagered on the Super Bowl.

And then there are the games themselves. For those attending, the average ticket will cost $212. And for those watching either in San Antonio or in their local bar, 1.3 million extra barrels of beer are produced to keep up with demand. The Final Four host city is expected to make a pretty penny from the games. According to WalletHub, San Antonio will bring in an estimated $135 million.

And as for the rest of us: You can thank CBS and Turner Broadcasting for paying $19.6 billion for the TV rights through 2032 to keep bringing those games straight to your living room—or office. We won’t judge you.