Employees Placing Their Bets, says New Vault Survey
NEW YORK, February 28, 2006: The Super Bowl just passed, the Oscars are coming up, and March Madness is right around the corner. That means it's prime time for office betting pools. According to the 2006 edition of the Office Betting Pools Survey by career publisher Vault Inc. (www.vault.com), more employees are getting in on the office pool action as 67% of employees admit to taking part in pools, up from 61% last year. "It can be a great team-building activity - something in common to talk about with many of your co-workers," says one survey respondent. When asked if their fellow employees take part in office betting pools, 77% of survey respondents said yes.
Vault's 2006 Office Betting Pools Survey was conducted in mid-February and is comprised of 328 responses from employees representing a variety of industries across the U.S.
While the Super Bowl and the NFL regular season remain the most popular events for betting pools, with 65% and 61% of employees who actively take part in office betting pools participating, there are many other occasions when employees break out the bucks for a pool. Among them, the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament (March Madness), which 57% of betting employees tale part in; pregnancy pools guessing the date of birth and other characteristics of a co-workers' new baby (19%); The Academy Awards (13%); and reality show contests like "Survivor," "American Idol" and "The Apprentice" (12%).
Other popular betting pools cited by survey respondents include those for sports such as soccer, hockey, horse racing, NBA games, the World Series, the Tour de France, NASCAR, tennis and golf. One respondent said that his company runs its own fantasy football league. Some of the more unusual or creative pools cited: a bet on when an underperforming employee will be fired; when the first day of snow will occur; how long an engagement or marriage will last; the results of foreign elections; and the morbid celebrity death pool, wherein participants pick the next likely celebrities to pass.
Productivity is generally not suffering because of betting pools, as most employees, 73.5%, spend only 5-10 minutes at the office making their picks and save further research to do at home. While 52.5% of employees are aware that office betting pools can be illegal in some states depending on circumstances, 63% said that this does not affect their participation and "everybody does it." A majority, 80.5%, said that people do not take the possible illegality of pools seriously at all. Most offices (86%) do not have any company policy against betting pools that survey respondents are aware of, and only 2% have ever gotten in trouble with the boss for taking part in a pool.
Many office pools have minimal entry fees, with most respondents (53%) saying they cost about $5 to enter; 28% of respondents pay around $10, and 10% pay $20. As far as winnings, 47% said they usually amount to $100 or under; 18% of respondents said between $101 and $200; 13% said between $201 and $300; and 12% said between $301 and $500. A lucky 4% said the winnings usually amount to over $1000. Regardless of the cost or the winnings, 76% of survey respondents said the primary motivation for taking part in office betting pools is just to have a little harmless fun at work. Other reasons? To win money (17%), and to prove how good one is at picking winners (7%). According to one respondent, "(Office pools) provide banter and camaraderie in an otherwise boring day."
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