Chicago-area college basketball fans celebrate first day of March Madness
By John Garcia
Published on March 19, 2026.
The first day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament is not a holiday, but many believe it should be. College basketball fan Tim Coffey gave his employees the day off to celebrate March Madness. This is a tradition for Coffey and his father, Phil, who died in August. Despite this, Coffey plans to make this an annual event. According to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, college basketball fans cost companies around the country more than $12 billion in lost productivity.
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