March Madness Betting Handle Projections: $2.7 Billion Expected
American Gaming Association Predicts Strong Legal Betting Amount
The American Gaming Association released its estimated legal handle on the NCAA Basketball Tournaments on Thursday. The gaming industry advocates are predicting $2.72 billion to be wagered legally on the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments. That works out to be 2.2% of the total sports betting handle in a year. The March Madness betting handle projections are going to be on the low side of the total amount wagered.
Many people participate in various bracket pools, which aren’t accounted for. The AGA says, “To calculate its wagering estimate, the AGA leveraged its proprietary Commercial Gaming Revenue Database.
The analysis is based primarily on historical state regulatory data related to college basketball handle and the continued growth of the overall sports betting market.”
Legal sportsbooks in the U.S. could use some good news. Those who have already reported February’s revenue numbers are showing the expected decrease from a lack of online sports gambling on football.
The February drop-off in bettors wagering on their picks and parlays is typical. March traditionally brings an increase in bets, which is reflected in the March Madness betting handle projections.
Collectively, the NCAA Basketball Tournament is more significant than the Super Bowl. There are also 67 men’s games and 67 women’s games played during each tournament, so it makes sense for the total handle to be higher on the legal front.
The illegal betting market is certainly much more unpredictable. Between the tournament brackets and the Super Bowl box pools, there is a staggering amount of money Super Bowl box pools, there is a staggering amount of money in play that is unaccounted for.
2023 NCAA Tournament
The American Gaming Association predicted a total of $15.5 billion to be wagered on last year’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments. That amount was determined by an online survey on behalf of the AGA between March 1-3, 2023, among a national sample of 2,200 adults.
The AGA survey showed 31 million American adults planned to place a traditional sports wager online, at a retail sportsbook, or with a bookie. Another 21.5 million planned to bet casually with friends. An impressive 56.3 million planned to participate in a bracket contest.
“March Madness is one of the best traditions in American sports — and America’s most wagered-on competition,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller in last year’s statement. “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 legal March Madness betting handle projections are going to be much more accurate than those that account for illegal wagering. Bracket pools and wagers between friends are difficult to predict. What people report they’re going to bet and what they actually wager can be two different amounts.
Regardless of the the manner in which bets are made, there’s no doubt that March Madness betting is good for the sportsbooks. Most sports bettors are going to try their luck on picks and parlays on the tournament. Even those who don’t bet college basketball during the regular season have plays in the tournament.
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