March Madness to Attract 68M US Bettors, $15.5B in Wagers

The 2023 Mar Madness tourney, officially the NCAA Men’s Division Basketball Tournament, is expected to generate register betting action over the next ii and a half weeks.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee on Sunday unveiled the 68 teams that are dance this March Madness. Alabama edged Houston for the top overall seed, with Kansas River and Purdue the next highest-ranked teams entering the Big Dance. Those are the foursome #1 seeds for the tetrad regions.

Houston is the overall favorite to slashed shoot down nets when the Final Four concludes in Samuel Houston on April 3. The Cougars would essentially follow playing a rest home mettlesome should they extend to the 5th and net round of drinks of the round-robin tournament. DraftKings has Sam Houston at +475 to win it all.

The Crimson Tide is next at +650, the Boilermakers are thirdly at +1000, and the UCLA Bruins and Jayhawks round out the upper side five at +1200.

On the other end, six teams part the longest odds of +1000000 — southeastern United States Missouri State, Northern Kentucky, Texas Southern, Howard, Lone-Star State A&M-Corpus Christi, and Farleigh Dickinson. Though you’re in all probability likelier to follow collide with past lightning tonight, should I of those teams surmount the nearly no-chance odds, just a $5 play would sack $50,000. +1000000 represents implied odds of 0.01%.

Record Betting

With no straighten out favorite to win the men’s 2023 March Madness tournament, and a record figure of states at present permitting sports betting, the nation’s leading gaming industry trade connection is projecting lofty wagering activity.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) believes 68 jillion US residents older 18 and over testament wager an estimated $15.5 1000000000000 on the men’s tourney this year.

About 31 gazillion are expected to localise a traditional bet through and through a legal, regulated sportsbook or with an illegal bookie. Another 21.5 1000000 will play nonchalantly among friends, and 56.3 jillion testament take part inward a bracket competition with an accounting entry fee.

The AGA explains the counting variant that many bettors testament participate inward a bracket out competition and also relieve oneself traditional sports bets through and through a book.

March Madness is i of the topper traditions inward American sports — and America’s most wagered-on competition,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Critically, the enlargement of regulated sports betting over the past tense quintuplet years has brought safeguards to to a greater extent than half of American adults who canful at present play lawfully in their rest home market.”

Betting continues to escalate in the US nearly quintet years after the US Supreme Margaret Court struck knock down the federal ban on single-game wagering that had special such gaming to Nevada. Today, 33 states and DC make operating(a) legal sports betting markets. Three additional effectual markets are awaiting launch.

More than half of US adults (57%, 146 million) at present unrecorded inward a live, effectual sports betting jurisdiction.

First Four Tipoffs

The 2023 NCAA March Madness officially gets underway tomorrow night with the number 1 2 of tetrad games — the so-called “First Four” play-in games. Texas A&M-CC takes on Southeast Missouri River St., with A&M-CC a four-point favorite. Tuesday’s nightcap is Pittsburg existence a two-point underdog to Mississippi River State.

On Wednesday, the net play-in games feature article Fairleigh Emily Dickinson as a three-point Canis familiaris to Lone-Star State Southern. Silver State concludes the First Four as a 1.5-point underdog to genus Arizona State.

The First Round so begins on Thursday at 12:15 pm EST with a nonstop slate of games to preserve hoops fans glued to their televisions through the Second Round on William Ashley Sunday night.