March Madness Betting Numbers Revealed

There are few sporting events in the United States that capture the imagination of sports fans quite like March Madness is capable of.

It is routinely one of the highlights of the year and produces some of the most exciting sporting stories every 12 months. Many will submit their March Madness brackets in the hope of beating the heavily-stacked odds that are against them, although only a handful have been able to pick a perfect bracket.

With a return to normality now in full swing for NCAAB, there has been as much betting interest in March Madness than ever before.

That was confirmed by a recent study from the National Research Group (NRG), who completed their study at the conclusion of Elite Eight round of this year’s tournament.

They questioned 1,000 people aged between 18 and 64 and found that 31% of all Americans have wagered on the tournament already. That number is likely to increase over this weekend as the March Madness Final Four is concluded, starting with the semi-finals on Saturday night and the final on Sunday.

To add to that, 65% who admit to have wagered on the tournament this year say they have bet more on it than ever before. The results come as a direct result of a number of states making sports betting legal in 2022, including one of the biggest in New York, who opened the market ahead of the Super Bowl.

The American Gaming Association’s investigation in March stated that 45 million Americans intended to bet on March Madness and the NRG research has concluded with some intriguing numbers.

24% of bettors have wagered on at least 10 different games during the tournament, while 63% have wagered on anything between three and 10 games. 39% of March Madness bettors have wagered at least $250 over the course of the tournament, while 63% have wagered at least $100 so far.

However, the survey has reported a decline in the number of bettors that have filled out a March Madness bracket. The opening of legal state-based avenues to place real money wagers on individual games has lowered the overall interest of bettors in the activity.

As expected, each round has brought slightly less betting interest each time once they are less games to choose between to wager on. Having seen more than half of bettors wager on the First Round, it was then followed up with 46% in the Second Round, 44% during the Sweet Sixteen and down to just 30% in the Elite Eight.