AGA: 68 million Americans to place bets on March Madness
Trade body data suggests $15.5bn in sports betting handle for NCAA showpiece event
A quarter of all Americans (68 million) have said they will place bets on this year’s NCAA March Madness tournament, according to the latest survey data from the American Gaming Association (AGA).
AGA data suggests as much as $15.5bn will be wagered on this showpiece tournament, one of the largest betting events in the US behind the NBA playoffs and NFL Super Bowl.
While the 68 million is 18 million more than bets placed on Super Bowl LVII last month, half a billion more was placed on the NFL’s biggest game than on this year’s March Madness.
According to the survey of 2,200 adults, which was undertaken between March 1 and March 3, 31 million Americans said they will place a bet either online, at a retail sportsbook, or with a bookie.
A further 21.5 million said they would bet casually with friends, while 56.3 million said they would participate in so-called ‘bracket contests’, where participants attempt to outguess their peers in predicting the winning teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Three-quarters of online bettors say this will be their first time betting on March Madness online via a website or sportsbook app.
The AGA suggested the growth in March Madness betting was due in part to a “resurgence” in bracket contests, as well as the expansion of legalized sports betting across the US.
Of the 68 million potential bettors, Kentucky was said to be the most popular choice to win the national title, with 9% of respondents, just ahead of Texas A&M (8%) and Gonzaga, UCLA, and Alabama with 6%.
“March Madness is one of the best traditions in American sports – and America’s most wagered-on competition,” AGA president and CEO Bill Miller said in a statement accompanying the survey results.
“Critically, the expansion of regulated sports betting over the past five years has brought safeguards to more than half of American adults who can now bet legally in their home market,” he added.
However, the AGA president sounded a note of caution to bettors regarding at-risk gambling during the tournament.
“With the excitement around March Madness, the AGA and our members want to remind anyone getting in on the action to have a game plan to bet responsibly. That means setting a budget, knowing the odds, keeping it social, and always playing legally,” added Miller.
Since last year’s event, regulated markets for retail and online sports betting have opened in Kansas, Ohio, Maryland, and, most recently, Massachusetts, which launched online sports betting on March 10.