March means one thing to basketball fans across the United States and the world, March Madness! If you have not heard this phrase before take a second to turn on CBS this weekend or flip by any channel that shows sports.
Here are some quick facts about the college basketball tournament that sweeps the nation every March:
- People spent 664 hours watching the tournament last year (fortune.com)
- 60 million Americans take time to fill out brackets, including the President of the Unites States (challengergrey.com)
- The cost of unproductive and distracted workers could be upwards of $1.9 billion this year alone (challengergrey.com)
- $2 billion will be bet on brackets, not counting individual games and parlays! (thefiscaltimes.com)
- 80.8 million hours will be spent streaming live games by over 6 million Americans (ncaa.com)
These statistics have grown year by year and the trend does not seem to be coming to an end. With all this being said, let’s remember how great the game of basketball is for you physically as well. It is one of the only sports that can be enjoyed by playing alone, all you need is a hoop and a ball. Playing basketball is one of the best ways to burn calories and increase your metabolism. Playing a moderate game for 30 minutes can burn up to or more than 270 calories and guess what, it’s fun! (myfitnesspal.com) According to Betterhealth.com, basketball also helps to build endurance, improve balance and concentration, increase strength, and can also pave the way to new friendships, disciplines and leadership qualities.
We realize that filling out brackets, watching your favorite teams play and enjoying the magic of buzzer beating down to the wire games is part of the fun of March, but let’s not forget about the actual sport that everyone is enjoying the benefits that come with actually playing it!
