Fantasy football costs employers billions.

• Position: Gambling

As fantasy sports and, more specifically, fantasy football continue to grow in popularity, so might the financial impact on the nation's employers. However, one workplace authority says companies should not crack down on employees managing their teams at the office, but instead embrace the fantasy fanaticism.

Over the five months of the NFL preseason and regular season, millions of fantasy football participants --an estimated 66% of whom are employed full time--will be researching, building, and managing their fantasy football teams. Many will do this during work hours from cell phones, tablets, or the speedy Internet connections found in most modern offices.

The cost of this distraction could approach $16,000,000,000 in lost wages paid to those managing their teams during business hours, according to an estimate from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago, Ill.

"That figure represents just one hour of unproductive work time each week during the nearly half-year stretch in which fantasy football becomes an obsession for millions of Americans. However, before getting worried about fantasy football leading to the economy's collapse, it is important to understand that the figure accounts for a tiny fraction of all the wages paid out over that period," notes John A. Challenger, chief executive officer.

"Unless you are J.J. Watt [the All-Pro defensive end of the Houston Texans], who appears to put in 100% during every hour of his workday, it is impossible...