INDIANA – March Madness will tip off today. The Men’s NCAA Tournament is without question the biggest event in college sports. It’s a three-week deal, dripping with lore. It’s filling out an actual paper bracket with real ink. It’s sweating out college basketball betting wagers at 1:30 p.m. ET on a Thursday. It’s bands and mascots and buzzer-beaters and One Shining Moment.
A quarter of all American adults (68 million) plan to wager $15.5 billion on this year’s NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, according to a new survey from the American Gaming Association (AGA).
- 31 million American adults plan to place a traditional sports wager online, at a retail sportsbook, or with a bookie.
- 21.5 million plan to bet casually with friends.
- 56.3 million plan 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. “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 growth in March Madness betting is driven by a resurgence of bracket contests as well as Americans taking advantage of the expansion of legal online wagering. Three-fourths of online bettors say this will be their first time betting on March Madness online.
While 18 million more American adults plan to wager on March Madness compared to last month’s Super Bowl, Americans are expected to wager half a billion dollars less on the tournament than they planned to wager on the Big Game.
Since last year’s tournament, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Ohio have launched retail and mobile sports betting markets, while Maryland has launched mobile wagering. This year’s March Madness – with 67 games over three weeks – will be the first to feature Las Vegas as a regional host location.
“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.
Among bettors, Kentucky is the most popular choice to win the national title (9%), followed by Texas A&M (8%), Gonzaga, UCLA, and Alabama (6%).
Overall, it costs an average of $2,375.74 for two people to go to an opening round site for the men’s tournament this year. That includes a direct flight, a decent hotel close enough to walk or take a short Uber, and tickets for all three sessions.
Bookies.com priced out tickets, hotels, and flights for eight first and second-round sites, four regional locations, and the Final Four in Houston to arrive at an average cost for each.
In total, two people could realistically attend all three weekends at a total cost of $7,662.41.
Key Figures
- Opening Rounds Average x2 – $2,375.74
- Regional Rounds Average x2 – $2,807.96
- Final Four Total x2 – $2,478.72
- Tournament Total x2 – $7,662.41
It’s a bit pricier the following weekend, with an average of $2,807.96 for two people to go to one of the four regional sites – Las Vegas, New York City, Kansas City, and Louisville – for all the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight action.
Lastly, a trip to the Men’s Final Four is way more affordable than similar events like the Super Bowl, or College Football Playoff, running roughly $2,478.72 for two people.
All told, two people could realistically attend all three weekends at a total cost of $7,662.41.
Compare that to a recent Bookies.com study that found it would cost two people $18,000 to attend Super Bowl 57 in Phoenix, and suddenly March Madness looks like one of the bigger bargains in sports.
