How Much Money Was Bet on March Madness in 2023?

• Many states saw a record high in sports wagering handles during March of 2023.
• A sports betting study revealed that over 18 million more Americans planned to wager on March Madness than Super Bowl 57.

LAS VEGAS – A handful of state’s monthly gaming revenue reports for March have been released and support the claim that March Madness is one of America’s favorite sporting events to wager on. Even without the Final Four, which is played in April, over $2.7 billion in sports betting wagers were placed between New York and New Jersey on March Madness.

In last year’s analysis, the American Gaming Association predicted a $3 billion handle bet on March Madness. This year, their prediction increased to over $15 billion in wagers placed on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

With the increasing number of states with legal sports betting, this large number might not be too far off. The American gaming Association’s survey claims that over 68 million Americans planned “to place a bet online, with a bookie, with a casino sportsbook, casually with family or friends, or as part of a bracket contest for March Madness.”

That’s 18 million more than the number of bettors for Super Bowl 57. The dominance of March Madness is best displayed in the Pennsylvania monthly sports gaming revenue report.

March Madness Wagering Across the Country

Despite the Philadelphia Eagles playing in Super Bowl 57 in February, Pennsylvania reported a $172 million increase in sports wagers from February to March for a grand total of $723,545,806 placed. Although many Americans consider the Super Bowl as our biggest sporting event, the betting numbers for March Madness and basketball proves otherwise.

In Colorado, the combination of collegiate and professional basketball made up 52.6% of wagers by sport in February 2023. The NFL playoffs and College Football Playoff in January weren’t enough to top basketball’s chokehold in the state.

College and professional basketball received just over $100 million more in retail and online sports wagers. With March Madness representing one of the most wagered on competitions in the country, its likely that people of Colorado, and other basketball fans, continued to increase their betting numbers for March.

Mississippi had their highest sports wagering month of the year in March, likely due to the March Madness Tournament. March Madness was the main sports betting attraction for the month of March, with Major League Baseball not kicking off until March 30.

The Mississippi gaming report shows a $20 million dollar increase in sports wagers from February to March. In Mississippi’s most popular gambling region, basketball made up 71% of the $31.8 million in March wagers.

Since last year’s NCAA tournament, there are four new states with legal sports betting. Out of Massachusetts, Ohio, Kansas, and Maryland, Massachusetts is the only new state with a monthly gaming revenue report for March.

Massachusetts is bordering the home state of the National Champion UConn Huskies, projecting they will post a high number when their April report releases. For March, Massachusetts received over half a billion dollars in sports wagers.

Another interesting state without a March report yet is Nevada. This year’s tournament marked the first year with Las Vegas as a host location, predicting a large month of March considering their $935 million handle in January.

News tags: Colorado | Final Four | Kansas | March Madness | Maryland | Mississippi | NCAA Tournament | Nevada | New Jersey | New York | NFL | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Eagles | Super Bowl 57