Industry News
NCAA Basketball Tournament Increasing Online Gaming, Visits to Sporting Sites
A San Diego-based company has issued a report indicating that corporate computer networks are likely to be severely slow this month -- as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's college basketball tournament gets underway and fans go online, seeking news about their favorite teams, and placing wagers at Internet casino sites.
Colloquially known as "March Madness," this 64-team tournament officially gets under way on March 15, and is considered one of the world's most important sporting events. The tournament is expected to generate $4 billion in wagers before a champion is chosen on April 2.
The dramatic growth of sports and Internet gambling sites, along with a significant increase in high-bandwidth tools, including real-time scores and streaming video, actually pose a communications challenge for businesses, according to Websense, the firm which undertook the survey.
The number of sports-related Websites increased by 31 percent versus last year’s, meantime online gambling sites have grown by 56 percent since last March.
Billion Dollar Betting
Combine these factors and "midsize companies can expect to see a considerable drain on employee productivity and network bandwidth during the NCAA tournament," according to Websense.According to reliable industry forecasts, gamblers will wager $1.3 billion online during the tournament at Internet sports books.
Another $90 million will be bet in person in Las Vegas, experts said.
According to Nielsen/NetRatings, an Internet ratings service, more people visited Internet sporting sites while at work than from home during last year's thrilling NCAA tournament.
At the office, NCAA sites attracted about 5.9 million unique visitors on the second day of the tournament, contrasted with 4.8 million at home. Traffic was also up significantly in 2006 over 2005, with some sites -- notably CBS' SportsLine.com, which will again offer free video streaming of out-of-market games. Some sites posted growth rates as high as 76 percent.
Fans can register now at the NCAA's Web site -- http://www.NCAA.org -- to watch "on-demand video" during the tournament, the organization said.
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