March Madness Has Become an Internet Event

The NCAA "March Madness" basketball tournament isn't just a big audience event. It's big business, especially on the Internet, where there's an annual confluence of live sports, video streaming--and a strain on corporate resources and productivity (i.e. workers are busy watching the games).

This year, Joost will carry every game of CBS Sports' live coverage of the games. So will CBSSports.com, though the site limits the number of viewers. Here's how big March Madness is to the CBSSports site: Last year, traffic increased 43 percent in March from the previous month, according to Hitwise.

Hitwise also told me that U.S. visits to the main bracket sites--Yahoo! Sports - Tournament Pick'em, CBS SportsLine.com - Fantasy Mayhem and ESPN Tournament Challenge--on average increases more than 1,200 percent for the first week of the tournament compared to the previous week. And search terms related to March Madness go up 1,200 percent the first week of the tournament.

But it really runs well over the top. This year, JohnMcCain.com has set up its own bracket challenge so you can match your picks against the presidential candidate's. Geico created a Facebook app that uses the theme of its popular Caveman character. Videogame company Electronic Arts created a March Madness site with blogs and 360-degree views of several college arenas. A handful of Stanford graduates launched a website called Bracket Brains, which uses math formulas to pick winners.

All the while, IT departments everywhere worry about the strain on their systems as workers pull in game video and highlights.

March Madness is in the process of becoming as much an Internet event as a TV event, which is fascinating. More than likely, the Olympics will eventually do the same.