A new survey from the American Gaming Association (AGA) has discovered that 45 million American adults plan to wager $3.1bn on this year’s NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.
On behalf of the AGA, Morning Consult conducted the online survey between February 26-27, among a national sample of 2,210 adults, to find out how the public will wager on the 2022 NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament.
The data was 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.
The survey revealed that 45 million American adults plan to wager on March Madness, 20.9 million will bet on the tournament outside of bracket contests (at a retail sportsbook, online, with a bookie, or casually with friends), and 36.5 million will wager via a bracket contest or similar pool.
In total, more than 17% of American adults are expected to wager $3.1bn on the 2022 NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller commented: “Americans continue to make it clear: they want to wager with the protections of the legal, regulated market. There’s no doubt this year will generate the highest legal handle in March Madness history.”
Of their total betting budget on this year’s tournament, Americans expect to place 76% of their wagers outside of brackets, up from 55% last year.
29 million more American adults can legally wager in their home state this year compared to March Madness 2021. In the past year, Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming launched new legal sports betting markets.
“There’s nothing more thrilling in sports than the magic of March Madness. If you’re getting in on the action, have your game plan to bet responsibly. That means setting a budget, keeping it fun, learning the odds, and playing legally,” Miller added.
Last month, the AGA revealed that US commercial gaming achieved its highest-grossing year ever in 2021, reaching $53bn in revenue.
