Productivity: American Businesses Take Million-Dollar Losses in World Cup Fever

It’s very clear that the World Cup series has been dominating television screens in American households for weeks now, but based on a recent report, the sporting event is having overwhelming domination in the workplace as well.

According to Yahoo Finance, last week’s confusing match against Germany raked in nearly 20 million viewers. Of those viewers, roughly 14 million have jobs earning an average $24.38 an hour, and based on Yahoo findings, about $682 million worth of labor productivity was lost due to workers involvement in watching the sporting event.

A loss of worker productivity during major sporting events is nothing new, with reports showing the 2014 March Madness costing businesses roughly $1.2 billion and the 2012 Olympics costing businesses $1.4 billion. And while a loss of money is rarely ever a good thing for American businesses, when it comes to sports, the loss may not totally be a bad thing.

“The energy around the office is awesome; everyone feels more connected to their co-workers and the products we work together on. It’s made a big difference,” Ross, the marketing manager at GetCourse tells Forbes about how sporting events can positively impact the company morale.

While sports may not always be friendly to the pockets of American businesses, it may not be a bad idea for CEOs to embrace the events and use it as an opportunity to create a more close-knit and engaging work environment for employees.