The Sporting Events That Capture The American Attention Like No Other

Sports are a great way to spend time with friends and family. In addition, you can bond with your local amateur, collegiate, or professional teams.

In the United States, some major sporting events dominate the lives of even the most passive fan.

In fact, the World Series, Super Bowl, and March Madness, the three major sports in America, profoundly impact society.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is easily the most-watched sports event in the US. In 2022, over 98 million households had the Super Bowl on, and when you account for parties and bars broadcasting the game, the average number of viewers per broadcast is much higher, making it the most-watched event of the year.

And advertisers see the value of marketing during the game. In fact, over 500 million dollars is spent on TV ads during the game, making it a bonanza for the broadcast corporation that has the rights to the game.

The interest in the Super Bowl ranges from an interest in the game and who wins to the commercials and half-time entertainment to sports gambling.

And most people have a passing interest in a friendly wager or two either between friends, wagering at a sportsbook, or games like “squares” where people play a lottery-style buying a square with a score. A person wins if the teams end on that score during a portion of the game.

People talk about the game and the entertainment long after the game has concluded, and most casual fans wouldn’t be able to tell you who won. In other words, for most people, the Super Bowl is more about being at a party and having a social bond than the outcome.

The Super Bowl is so popular that employers call the day after “Sick Monday,” as there is a high percentage of people that call out of work, either pre-approved (8-9 million) or callouts the day of (5-6 million).

Studies suggest that almost 8-10% of the workforce calls out on the Monday after the Super Bowl, making it the most significant single “sick” day of the year.

March Madness

Another social event that is spurred by a sporting event is the craziness known as March Madness. March Madness is used to describe the national championship tournament for College Basketball.

The tournament, or March Madness, has several reasons it’s as popular as it is, from alums supporting their alma mater to casual fans catching the drama and energy that is amateurs playing at the highest level.

In fact, March Madness only trails the Super Bowl in popularity among casual fans. And the most significant factor of that is playing the brackets or office pool.

An office pool is where any number of people select a bracket of how they perceive each round to take place during the tournament, including choosing a National Champion.

The popularity of playing brackets and office pools crosses over all the various interest levels in the championship tournament.

From fanatical interests to people only interested in picking a winner, the two weeks of March Madness impact productivity, attendance, and appointments according to employers and HR departments throughout all industries.

Employers report a higher trend of people calling out of work, longer lunch breaks, shorter working days, and fewer appointments scheduled during the tournament two weeks than any other time of year.

There are tons of ways that people watch and interact with each other during the tournament.

For the casual fan or person looking to participate in something for the sake of enjoyment and camaraderie, the office pool is a great way to play and have a stake in the games.

Others enjoy wagering on the games, and to do that, they need to have a firm grasp on the March Madness betting odds for each team, from selecting winners to overall scores and more.

And then there’s daily fantasy contests hosted by Draftkings, Yahoo, and more. These sites let people create a dream roster, score points and win contests as a result.