This year’s edition of March Madness may draw fewer bettors, but those punters could drive a record legal handle for the event and spend an ever greater slice of their wagering budget on sides, totals, and props.
That’s according to the annual survey from the American Gaming Association (AGA), which projects 45 million adults in the country plan to wager on March Madness this year, down from the 47.4 million who anticipated betting on the men’s college basketball tournament in 2021.
Still, the pool of potential bettors for 2022 is poised to wager a record amount on the tourney through legal sports betting channels. The AGA estimates American adults intend to gamble $3.1 billion on the games, and that 76% of that will be placed outside of brackets, which is up from 55% for 2021.
“Americans continue to make it clear: they want to wager with the protections of the legal, regulated market,” AGA President and CEO Bill Miller said in a press release. “There’s no doubt this year will generate the highest legal handle in March Madness history.”
Bets vs. brackets
The expected surge in legitimate wagering is due in part to the ongoing expansion of legal sports betting in the U.S. Thirty states and Washington, D.C. currently have some form of legal sports gambling.
With retail and online sportsbooks now authorized in states such as Arizona and Louisiana, the AGA says 29 million more American adults can legally wager in their state this year compared to last year’s tournament.
The bracket is by no means dead, either. The AGA’s research estimates 36.5 million Americans will wager via a bracket contest or a similar kind of pool this year, while 20.9 million plan to bet sides, totals, and props, among other traditional sportsbook offerings.
First-seeded Gonzaga was also the favorite to win this year’s tournament for 17% of those polled, the highest of any team.
Morning Consult conducted the online survey of 2,210 adults on behalf of the AGA in late February; its margin of error is approximately 2%, although that is wider for subgroups.
“If you’re getting in on the action, have your game plan to bet responsibly,” Miller added in the release. “That means setting a budget, keeping it fun, learning the odds and playing legally.”
