'March Madness' Tips Off On The Court And Online
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - The 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tips-off on the hardwood Thursday, and for fans who can't watch the games in front of a television, they can follow the games digitally.
CBS Sports and Turner Sports will provide live coverage of all 67 games of the tournament on four national television networks – TBS, CBS,
TNT and truTV, for those with access to a television.
The games will also be available on the NCAA March Madness Live website, where fans can watch all 67 live games, follow the bracket in real-time, check live scores, stats and watch video highlights.
There is also a boss button on the website to change the screen to a Power Point-style presentation, school syllabus or search engine if a manager, professor or spouse interrupts the game viewing experience.
Basketball fans can also follow the action through the CBS Sports app, which offers game coverage push alerts and access to the live action
on CBSSports.com.
The NCAA also offers a March Madness smart phone and tablet app for iOS and Android devices which brings the tournament to mobile devices with live streams of the games, scoring updates and the latest news.
CBS Detroit has also created a page that will provide updates on the NCAA action.
While the tournament may be all fun and games, there is a cost to business - especially in the early round games which are played during the work day.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. estimates businesses could experience up to $1.9 billion in lost wages paid to distracted and unproductive workers.
"That figure may be on the conservative side, considering this year could garner a lot more interest from even casual basketball fans eager to see if Kentucky can continue its undefeated season through the tournament," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a release.
While some companies may fret over the lost wages, Troy-based iDashboards is embracing the tournament and providing detailed information about the teams participating in the tournament.
The company, which develops business intelligence dashboard solutions, launched their 2015 March Madness dashboard for fans filling out their last-minute brackets with statistics including season average points scored per game, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, three-point percentage, blocks and rebounds.
"Our March Madness dashboard offers college basketball fans a fun and unique way to enjoy the games and analyze statistics on a deeper level," iDashboards CEO Shadan Malik said in statement. "This is a great annual initiative that illustrates the power of dashboards in helping to drilldown into critical data that ultimately leads to better decision-making capabilities."
Stats and data for each team will be updated throughout the progression of the tournament.
