The Impact of Televising World Cup Football on Productivity Loss and Volume of Gambling in Bangkok and Vicinity
Keywords:
Gam1ing, World Cup Football, Productivity, Cost.Abstract
This study aims at measuring the impacts of televising World Cup football late at night on: (a) work loss and productivity loss, and (b) change in the volume of gambling among the working population in Bangkok and vicinity The researcher employed telephone survey by calling residential numbers in area code 02, which were picked proportionately from the TOT and True Corporation's database in mid 2006. Among 1,603 respondents (from the same number of sampled households), 1,239 households had at least one member that watched some of the live televised football during that period.
Work loss consisted of two components: (a) work time loss from absence and tardiness, and (b) productivity loss among those that were working, but at lower intensity and/or quality The study found that each part accounted for about half of the loss, the total of which was estimated to be around 2,030-2,066 Baht per month per worker for the estimated 2.42 million workers that followed the World Cup event. The loss was considered significant as it was equivalent to more than 11 times the minimum wage.
The study on gambling found that, in the preceding 12 months prior to the World Cup, 41 percent of the respondents reportedly engaged in certain types of gambling, amounting to approximately 1,964 million Baht per month. During the World Cup, the volume of the non-football gambling was about 20 percent below the pre-World Cup level. Interestingly, only six percent of the respondents reported participation in football betting. However, that figure was sufficient to create a surge of football betting volume that was so large that it made the total volume of gambling almost three times the pre-World Cup volume. This result underscores the importance of football betting and the fact that it could have a severe impact on those, albeit a small number of, households that had increased their gambling volume substantially during this major sport event.
