How to Watch March Madness at Work

March Madness consists of 67 college basketball games. 40 of those games are played on weekdays. 16 of those games are played during work hours.

Which means if you want to watch it all (the Cinderella stories! The upsets! The madness!) then you’re going to need to figure out how to make that second monitor work in your favor.

Plus, you’ll have to decide which spreadsheet to have handy for when the boss walks by. And who’s going to have the wings and beer delivered to the breakroom.

Is that last one too much? When you’re this good at watching March Madness at work, we don’t think so.

Where can I watch March Madness?

First things first, who’s got the tv login info? March Madness games are televised on TBS, CBS, TNT and TruTV. So, if you know someone with access to cable (old school) or some other platform that has those channels, you’re in business.

If not, don’t worry. You can watch March Madness online through their own website: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/watch. Is it the same viewing experience as The Masters? Maybe not. But it’s still pretty great.

The best-case scenario here is multiple screens tuned into different channels and games. If you want to watch March Madness at work, the more people you get involved, the better. Basketball is a team sport and so is watching March Madness at work.

How to watch March Madness at Work

Reserve a conference room for the day. Plain and simple. Set up a meeting on your calendar (call it “Brainstorming” or “Data Review” or something vague like that) and block off a conference room from 12-5.

If people want to know what you’re doing for five hours, let it slip that this is a long “working lunch.” That way no one will think twice when the Buffalo Wild Wings catering team shows up.

Ideally, if you want to watch March Madness at work without getting caught, you’re going to want a conference room without any windows. But if you’re in an office where all the conference rooms have those big glass walls on one side, don’t worry.

Just set up all the computers and monitors on one side of the table (Last Supper style) and keep the screens facing away from the windows. If anyone happens to walk by while you’re celebrating a buzzer beater, they’ll just think you’re really enthusiastic about corporate’s goals.

So, in a way, when you watch March Madness at work, you’re really making an investment in the advancement of your career.

Tips for watching March Madness at work

If you can’t get a conference room for the day, don’t worry. You can still watch March Madness at work. Here are some foolproof strategies.

• Keep a spreadsheet ready. Get comfortable with Command-Tab on Mac or Alt-Tab on Windows and jump to “2023 Data Development” any time you feel the boss is coming around the corner.
• Make sure your computer stays on mute. Anyone who’s an amateur at watching March Madness at work is likely to forget this one. And while we all love Jim Nantz’s voice, your boss might be less than thrilled to hear him at noon on a Thursday.
• Don’t forget to go to your meetings. You still need to show up where people expect you. Anything you do to draw unwanted attention to yourself is a direct threat to your ability to watch March Madness at work.

The key to watching March Madness at work

Hopefully, those tips have helped you watch March Madness at work. The ultimate key to your success here is that you have a strategy. Now that you do, find the people who are going to help you make it happen.

If you’re trying to watch March Madness at work on your own, you’re going to have to work really hard (harder than you might actually work at your job). But if you have a few strategic allies, you can share the responsibility and enjoy the college basketball chaos together.

Plus, the more screens tuned into the games, the more madness you get to watch. Not only that, but you also need someone to vent to when your bracket is busted after the very first game. We’ll be right there with you.

And at the end of the day, if you do get caught watching March Madness at work, they can’t fire all of you…right?