When it comes to wagering, American players go absolutely crazy for March Madness. That’s the conclusion of a recent press release from the American Gaming Association (AGA) regarding the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament aka March Madness.
According to the AGA’s predictions, some 68 million Americans will wager a combined total of $16 billion on this year’s tournament. That amounts to roughly a quarter of the entire adult population of the entire country. March Madness wagering is so pervasive that
the AGA expects to see 18 million more adults wagering on the Tournament than wagered on the Super Bowl, though the Tournament’s handle is expected to be about $500 million less than combined Super Bowl wagering.
Given that 33 states and Washington D.C. offer regulated sports betting, about half of all Americans have access to regulated play, but that’s not where most of the March Madness wagering is actually happening. The AGA says that about 31 million of the predicted 68 million people wagering on the Tournament will be doing so at a regulated sportsbook. About 21.5 million Americans will be betting on the action casually with friends, while another 56.3 million of them will be participating in those ubiquitous brackets.
Not surprisingly, AGA President and CEO Bill Miller is pretty jazzed about the whole thing. He recently summed up the madness of March Madness and the rise of regulated sports betting saying, “March Madness is one of the best traditions in American sports—and America’s most wagered-on competition. 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.”
the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament began yesterday and will continue until a winner is crowned on April 3.