Inside Conditions…America Eats It’s Young

Wichita State players
Wichita State players watch highlights of their victory over Indiana State on the overhead monitor in an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference men’s tournament, Sunday, March 9, 2014, in St. Louis. Wichita State’s a perfect 34-0 and proudly awaiting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.(AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

Da da dee dee, dee dee da da. Everyone is rushing and gushing about certain brackets in regards to the “seedings” of the participating schools in the March Madness, NCAA tournament.  I recently discussed advertising revenue generated from the tournament.  Now let’s talk about a few other select cuts of meat from the “cash cow.”
aubreybruce1
Aubrey Bruce

I can smell the charcoal starter in the air as Las Vegas is preparing to grease the wheels of their dough manufacturing machine. On March 15, 2012 Brad Tuttle wrote this for business.time.com; “It’s officially tourney time. Just how much is wagered on games? To what degree do workers slack off to keep up with the action on the court? What is your office doing to stop you from streaming video so maybe you’ll actually get some work done? The numbers tell all.
6: Sum of the team seeds picked by upset-averse President Barack Obama to reach the Final Four—two No. 1 and two No. 2 seeds, with No. 1 UNC beating No. 1 Kentucky in the championship.
8, 11: Percentage of HR professionals who report an increase in sick days and employee tardiness, respectively, the day after a major televised event such as the NCAA championship.
5: Percentage of IT professionals who say their company attempts to hinder or prevent workers from streaming video content (such as NCAA tournament games) at the office.
86: Percentage of fans who say they’ll watch games or check scores while at work. $639 million:
Estimated value of the publicity and exposure Butler University received during the Indianapolis school’s run to the 2010 tournament final; after making it to the championship game that year, applications to Butler increased 41%. $738 million: Total revenues from companies advertising during last year’s tournament , a 20% rise in spending from 2010. Automakers, insurance companies, and restaurants were the top three advertisers, together representing roughly 40% of all money spent on advertising in games.
$4 billion, $192 million: One high and one lower estimate for how much lower productivity and lost work hours collectively costs businesses during the NCAA tournament. $12 billion: Estimated amount of money gambled on the NCAA tournament last year. Of that, just $100 million or so was gambled legally through sports books. Approximately $3 billion was bet in office pools, while the rest was wagered through other, less-than-legal outlets.”
Hey there guys and dolls if $3 Billion was bet in office pools alone try tripling that in regards to illegal betting or just a host of brothers betting fifty or a C-note on their favorite team.  People taking off from work, producing less at work.  Also, folks using resources at work just to help them get a handle on who to bet for and against and how much to bet.  In the end when the players are just struggling just to get home for the holidays just think about all of the dough being made from the blood, sweat and tears of the young players all the while being cannibalized by the NCAA system.
Be like Ike. The Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to return to the inner circle of the NFL.  They certainly cannot do the old fashioned way; you know drafting players who are young and molding them to play and excel in a scheme and that almost becomes second nature to them. However, the Steelers like any other NFL franchise must always retain a few veteran players, especially in key offensive and defensive positions to insure that balance and continuity remain intact.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Final Free-Agency Outlook and Predictions
Curt Popejoy , featured columnist with bleacherreport.com wrote this on Mar 5, 2014. “We are only days away from the great feeding frenzy that is the NFL free-agency period. Teams are scrambling to make internal moves in order to secure their own free agents, restructure contracts to free up cap space or part ways with veterans whose time has come.  The Pittsburgh Steelers approach the free-agency period in full scorched-earth mode, slashing salaries and cutting players loose in an attempt to get down to that elusive salary-cap number by March 11. Because the Steelers are in some salary-cap purgatory, don’t look for big moves outside the franchise. As we’ve already seen, however, the front office is working hard to get its books balanced and move forward.”  I believe that the Steelers will keep certain veteran players on the roster just for leadership and wisdom, if they don’t disaster may be just around the corner.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741

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