March Madness is almost here and for some diehard basketball fans, nothing else matters during those weeks. Beyond watching their favorite teams play, these fans will be devoting all kinds of time to the tournament and a new survey reveals just how much.
According to a new survey of 2-thousand basketball fanatics ages 21 and over:
- They'll spend an average of 36 hours totally consumed by March Madness, including 13 hours watching games, three hours creating brackets and another five hours talking about it with friends and family.
- They’ll also spend five hours engaging with online content, five hours watching highlights and three more hours placing bets.
- March Madness completely takes over some fans’ daily routines, with 26% admitting they’ve skipped work so they didn’t miss any action on the court. And others confess they’ve canceled dates (17%) or missed birthday parties (17%) for the same reason.
- Over three-quarters (76%) have a favorite team they’ll be cheering for this year and 59% of them believe their team has what it takes to end up in the Final Four.
- More than half (57%) are confident in their team’s ability to win it all, but only 30% will choose them as their bracket champ no matter what.
- If their team is losing, 46% will hope for a miracle or stay positive until there are no other options (45%), while 10% will leave the room, but only 9% will put on a different game.
- On average, fans don’t really start to give up hope their team can win until they’re down by 19 points in the second half.
- More than a third (39%) of basketball fans plan to bet on the tournament this year.
- Overall, they’ll spend an average of $570 on their complete March Madness experience this year.
Source: SWNS Digital