Americans plan to bet $15 billion on the NCAA tournament, and they'll waste much of it on Kentucky
Americans will bet a whole lot of money on the NCAA tournament this year. That’s not a surprise.
To be exact, 68 million American adults (26%) plan to wager $15.5 billion on the men’s tournament, according to a survey from the American Gaming Association.
More surprising is the team is receiving the majority of those bets.
According to the AGA, Kentucky leads the way with a 9% share of bets to win the national title. If you ever needed evidence of people blindly betting on name brands, here you go.
Yes, Kentucky is a blueblood program, but it isn’t national title good anymore. The Wildcats aren’t even ranked. They’re a 6 seed in the tournament, and only one of those has ever won the whole thing.
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
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This isn’t driven by homers either. Sports betting isn’t even legal in Kentucky. Nor is it legal in Texas, where the second most bet-on team resides.
Texas A&M — a 7 seed — is expected to receive 8% of bets, followed by Gonzaga, UCLA and Alabama at 6% each. Smells like a lot of wasted money on all but the last two to me.
According to the survey, 18 million more American adults plan to wager on March Madness compared to the Super Bowl, but they’re expected to spend about half a billion dollars less.
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