- The American Gaming Association is projecting 68 million adult Americans to place a bet on March Madness with the total estimated betting handle at $15.5 billion.
- 56.3 million Americans say that they will place their bets via pool.
- The University of Kentucky Wildcats emerged as the favorites among survey respondents to win the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball title.
With the March Madness brackets revealed last Sunday, the stage is now set for the 2023 edition of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. And, according to the American Gaming Association, it is going to be a massive betting event in the United States.
Results of a survey recently conducted by AGA, say that a total of 68 million adult Americans are planning to place a bet on the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, with a total of $15.5 billion expected to be wagered across the country.
The number of Americans who plan to place a wager on March Madness represents a quarter of the country’s population. It’s also18 million more than the number of American adults expected to place a bet during last month’s Super Bowl LVII, which was played between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
The expected amount of March Madness betting handle, however, is half a billion less than what was projected to be wagered on the NFL’s big game.
The survey was conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Gaming Association. It was done between March 1-3 with a national sample size of 2,000 adults. Per the AGA website, the data “were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and region.
The margin of error is +/- 2 percent and greater among subgroups. Bettors include those who expect to place a bet online, with a bookie, with a casino sportsbook, casually with family or friends, or as part of a bracket contest.”
🚨🏀 NEW: A quarter of American adults (68M) plan to wager $15.5B on this year’s NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, according to AGA’s latest survey.
Check out full #MarchMadness wagering trends ⤵️ ➡️ https://t.co/81ebeBmWjg pic.twitter.com/2gz6OO4ptV
— American Gaming Association (@AmericanGaming) March 12, 2023
68M American Adults to Wager $15.5 B 2023 on March Madness
Last year, the AGA’s March Madness survey projected the 2022 March Madness Betting event to have 45 million American bettors wagering a total of $3.1 billion. This year’s total represents a 151% increase in expected bettors and a massive 500% jump in the expected betting handle.
The 2023 survey also revealed that 31 million plan to place traditional wagers at an online website, retail sportsbook, or a bookie. 21.5 million said that they will be betting with friends while 56.3 million intend to join a March Madness bracket contest.
Those numbers are up from last year’s 20.9 million who were expected to wager via sportsbook, bookie, or friends, and 36.5 million who said they would bet via pools.
AGA attributes the increase in figures to the resurgence of bracket contests and the expansion of legal online sports betting which Americans are taking advantage of. Per AGA’s data, three-fourths of the online bettors said that this will be their first time placing an online wager.
Since the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, legal sports betting markets in Kansas, Massachusetts, and Ohio have launched both online and retail sports betting. Massachusetts was the latest to do so, launching its online sports betting market only last week.
This year’s March Madness is also the first tournament to have Las Vegas as a regional host location. Sin City has always been considered taboo for the NCAA but when the T-Mobile Arena hosts the NCAA West Regional on March 23-25, 2023, it will be the first time that Vegas will play host to an NCAA-sanctioned event in more than 3 decades.
Of March Madness bettors, 46% plan to place traditional sports bets, 32% plan to bet casually with friends, and 83% plan to participate in bracket contests.
Kentucky is the most popular choice among bettors to win the national title. pic.twitter.com/x1F3FVYbhZ
— American Gaming Association (@AmericanGaming) March 12, 2023
Kentucky Emerges as Favorite to Win title in AGA Survey
Interestingly, the Kentucky Wildcats emerged as the favorite to win the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament during the AGA survey with 9% of the total respondents. Texas A&M came in next with 8% while Gonzaga, UCLA, and Alabama were tied for third place with each team garnering 6% of the total surveyed population.
Kentucky is in the East Region of the 68-team bracket which was released Sunday evening. The Wildcats are the 6th seed and they will take on the Providence Friars in the first round on Friday evening at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Wildcats are just 4-point favorites against the Friars and are only a -180 Moneyline favorite to advance to the next round. Kentucky is currently listed as a longshot +4000 to win the tournament at BetOnline.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M has longer odds to win the Big Dance at +5000. The Aggies are the 7th seed in the Midwest Region and are coming off a 63-83 loss to Alabama in the SEC final. Texas A&M is currently listed at -3 points versus Penn State.
Gonzaga currently has the 4th best odds to win the 2023 edition of March Madness with +1400, the same odds as Kansas and Arizona. The Zags are seeded 3rd in the West Region and will take on Grand Canyon as -15.5 favorites.
UCLA is the no. 2 seed in the West Region and is slated to collide with Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. The Bruins have +1200 odds to win the national title, the same as Purdue.
Alabama is the co-favorite to win this year’s tournament at +500 via BetOnline. The Tide are the no. 1 seed in the South Regional and could be on a collision course with no. 1 Purdue of the East Regional in the Final four. On the other hand, the Houston Cougars are the top seed in the Midwest Region. Texas A&M is a potential Elite 8 opponent for Houston.
