Report: Fantasy Football Costs Employers $435M Per Week

[The Straight Story]

Report: Fantasy Football Costs Employers $435M Per Week
13.6M Americans Play Fantasy Football, Study Says

The NFL season kicks off Sept. 6, and a new report states that U.S. companies could lose as much as $435 million a week during the season because of lost productivity from employees playing fantasy football.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based employment research firm that tracks corporate office trends, said the figure is based on on employees spending an average of 45 minutes per day taking part in fantasy football, 10 minutes of which are on-the-clock.

About 13.6 million Americans participate in fantasy football annually, according to Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

The average income range of fantasy football participants is between $60,000 and $100,000 a year, according to online market research firms.

http://www.local6.com/spotlight/13983795/detail.html

[blondeatlast]

1. Outsource it! nt

[ComerPerro]

2. so the corporate world is complaining about 10 "on the clock" minutes a day?

[MadBadger]

3. A BS and worthless study.

[ShaneGR]

4. LOL, 10 whole minutes on the clock?

I'd love to see some figures on random water cooler talk. Better yet, 70 min lunches instead of 60.

[Touchdown]

5. They steal trillions from us (taxpayers) and our Government

and they complain about games on the clock. Yep. They think we're bred to serve them. :eyes:

[The Straight Story]

7. And lord knows

every second on the clock you are producing something.

In many of the tech jobs I have you spend hours of down time waiting on something to happen.

[Johonny]

6. I always laugh at these things

This is right there with using the internet to shop and read news. Yes workers use their work time on things other than work. It's just that it's harder to measure time at water cooler than time on web.

[shadowknows69]

8. And there are a lot of pissed off people

With Vick starting. Heh.

[SteelPenguin]

9. Good

I own a business and I play fantasy football.

I also am thinking of getting a foosball table for ongoing internal office grudgematches.

All this study does is figure out how much time is spent, and make a dollar calculation. What it doesn't do is determine how much more productivitiy people have when they're able to do these things. Study's also show that if you encourage people to get up and move around every hour or so for 5-10 minutes to chat, play a quick game, or whatever....engage their brains off their work for a bit....that they're healthier and more productive.

So I don't consider time people spend playing Fantasy Football as a loss, as long as they're getting their work done that they're responsbible for. If someone is spending 10 minutes per day, like in the afternoon checking the waiver wire, of 'company time' on fantasy football I say good for them. It'll make them more productive and make the business more successfull.

This very typical american idea that you can't have fun and have to be chained to your work desk for 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week in order to be considered productive is not only counterproductive but just lame.

[blondeatlast]

10. It;'s a symptom of the trendy MBA takeover.

People who've never really worked a hard day in their lives being taught by other people who've never worked a hard day in their lives how to manage people who work hard every day. (sounds to me like you are very keen on this--kudos for being a smart business owner).

In their pretty world, employees are so dedicated to the work that there can be no downtime because those intrepid employees will find time to fill it to benefit the company. If they don't, it's the employees fault, not bad management.

"Who Moved My Cheese?" is the perfect example. "Be happy--and grateful you still have a job!" even though you were way more productive before we reassigned you and/or changed your duties--which we did because YOU, the employee, failed to perform (only you were producing--and usually better than before). Then, it's STILL the employees fault when he/she isn't performing as well as they did before their duties were changed/reassigned.

It became more important to restructure ALL workplaces to give the MBA something "important" to do even though the workplace might have been more productive at less cost than before it was restructured.

It's the difference of how it looks on paper vs. how it actually works, much less performs. Paper never tells the whole story--and actually working the process can show far more wastes of money and time than looking at statistics.

[SteelPenguin]

11. That sounds fancy

I just know I work better if I occasionally take a break to play darts or foosball. ;)

[TahitiNut]

17. Indeed. 'Management' is no longer skilled enough in operations to actually tell ...

... whether people are doing their jobs well or not -- largely because there's no longer a "promote from within" attitude or value given to operational experience. The snake-oil peddlers (MBAs without hands-on expertis) have been filling the muddled management positions for over 20 years and they've infiltrated the rivers of commerce like oil - layered on top and incapable of mixing without an emulsification.

'Ownership' is predominantly pump-and-dump oriented - running 'business' like chop shops for stolen vehicles. They're not interested in building 'em or maintaining 'em - just in breaking 'em down and selling the pieces. The shell game of M&As, reorganizations, bankruptcies, and federal handouts has virtually destroyed real production in this country.

[TahitiNut]

12. Using the same 'logic,' defecation must cost employers about $7.6B per week.

Maybe they should put nails on the toilet seats and remove the stall doors. :eyes:


.... or install pots in every office chair. :puke:

[The Straight Story]

14. Or get a supply of NASA diapers for all employees

:rofl:

[Selatius]

13. And corporate welfare costs American taxpayers hundreds of billions each year.

Who has more of a right to bitch here?

[onenote]

15. How much does DU cost employers?

[The Vinyl Ripper]

16. WTF

is Fantasy Football?

I've heard the term before but I know nothing about it.

[The Straight Story]

18. Nude models playing football :) Seriously though

People get their own teams and players based on real ones and based on how those players perform your imaginary team is affected.

[Skidmore]

19. Does anyone ever clock how much productivity is lost for management

and 3 hour lunches?

[Initech]

20. Oh boo hoo. So big corporations dont get an extra $1M in profits. Big fucking deal.

I seriously hate this "profit trumps ideas" environment we live in. Big deal, EVERYONE wastes time at work. So what? :argh:

[Katherine Brengle]

21. My husband is doing this this year - I wonder how much money they lose to Solitaire?

Seriously. And Minesweeper.

[blondeatlast]

22. Of course, no one in management plays fantasy football...

:eyes: