Online sports betting operators are set to see record-breaking wagering on March Madness this year.

The three-week long, single-elimination, seven-round NCAA college basketball tournament got underway in Indiana on March 18 and runs until the Championship final on April 5.

The dramatic growth of sports betting popularity over the last two years has been attributed to the ever-expanding US legal market which has seen 14 new legal jurisdictions open up and offer legal sports gambling. This equates to almost 74 million more Americans being able to safely and legally bet on March Madness this year.

The latest state to offer sports betting was North Carolina which went legal on March 18 just in time for bettors to get involved in the March Madness action.

17.8 million say they will place a bet online, up 206% from 5.8 million in 2019.

According to a report published by the American Gaming Association (‘AGA’) $8.5 billion was gambled on March Madness in 2019 by 5.8 million people.

With 45% of American adults now living in a state with legalized sports betting the number of people doing their March Madness betting online is expected to top 17 million in 2021.

Offline bets are also estimated to increase this year with the number of Americans placing their college basketball bets at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks nearly doubling.

March Madness Key Dates:

• March 18-19: First Round
• March 20-21: Second Round
• March 25-26: Sweet 16
• March 27-28: Elite Eight
• April 3: Final Four
• April 5: National Championship

2021 March Madness Wagering Estimates

47.4 million American adults are expecting to bet on March Madness this year. That’s more than 20% of the population!

Although that’s about the same number that indicated they would bet on the tournament in 2019, the number of people betting with a sportsbook is set to rise dramatically.

Other key findings reported by the American Gaming Association:

• 30.6 million Americans expect to place more traditional NCAA March Madness bets with sportsbooks on this year’s tournament, up from 17.8 million in 2019.
  

• 8.3 million expect to place a bet at a physical sportsbook, up 79% from 2019.
  

• 36.7 million Americans say they will fill out a bracket, down 8 percent from 2019.

Bill Miller, President and CEO, American Gaming Association said “The sports betting landscape has changed dramatically since 2019 – and as a result, tournament betting has transformed. With more legal, regulated options than ever before, millions of customers now have safer ways to enjoy all the fun and suspense only March Madness provides.”

This year, due to the global pandemic, the tournament will be held entirely in a single state (Indiana) with the Championship final game scheduled for April 5 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

According to Vegas-Odds.com futures betting data from online sportsbooks – the teams most likely to take home the Championship trophy are the Gonzaga Bulldogs (+170), Baylor Bears (+375) and the Houston Cougars (+800).

More March Madness Facts & Stats:

• Gaming analysts Eilers & Krejcik estimated that if all 50 U.S. states had legal online sports betting, sportsbooks would handle $15.2 billion in total bets for March Madness alone, grossing about $1.2 billion of revenue.
  
• Interest in this NCAA men’s college basketball tournament is up slightly from 2019 with 26% of Americans saying they are very interested in March Madness, compared to 23% two years ago.
  
• Regulated Vs International Sportsbooks : $3.9 billion of bets will come mostly by way of international websites and bookmakers, though 4.1 million people will also place legal wagers through licensed U.S based casinos & sportsbook operators.
  
• The betting odds of predicting all 63 March Madness games correctly is 1 in 9.2 quintillion!
  
• The longest winning streak of NCAA tournament bracket picks to start the March Madness tournament stands at an astonishing 49, with an Ohio bettor correctly predicting the entire 2019 NCAA tournament into the Sweet 16 stage.

Casino operators in California are investing in the business to be able to compete with Las Vegas.

Casino operators in the State of California are innovating the market to strengthen its potential and be able to compete with the neighbouring city of Las Vegas, the most renowned gaming hub of the country. According to a recent study, 27 percent of tourists in Las Vegas come from the state of California.

Therefore, local native tribes that operate casinos in the region decided to further invest in innovative gaming services for residents and boost the regional economy. The operators are planning to improve current casino services by adding “integrated resorts, complete with shops, restaurants, spas and various other entertainment activities.”

Katherine Spilde, director of Sycuan Institute on Government Gaming at San Diego State University, explained: “The tribes are really responding to a mature tourist market.” And added: The integrated resort is the evolved model of gaming where the gaming is just one part of the larger experience.”

Meanwhile, the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians has recently held a pre-inauguration event celebrating the upcoming casino in California. The ceremony was held last Monday and authorities lifted white beams containing the signatures of tribal members, casino employees and construction workers to the top of the frame of the six-story hotel.

A partnership between gaming developers Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and the Clairvest Group have been awarded a licence to operate and develop four casino properties in Toronto.

The facilities, all owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and known collectively as the West GTA bundle include: Casino Brantford, the slots at Mohawk Racetrack, the slots at Flamboro Downs and the slots at Grand River Raceway.

Under the terms of the deal, Great Canadian will own 55% of the partnership and run the operations, while Clairvest, a private equity firm, will hold the remaining 45%.

As a result of this award, the partnership will acquire all the gaming assets in the West GTA Bundle and will enter into leases for each of the facilities. The deal also gives them the exclusive right to operate the facilities for a minimum of 20 years.

In total the facilities comprise over 2,500 slot machines, approximately 60 table games, employ more than 1,400 staff, and generated approximately $450m in gross gaming revenue in the 2017 financial year.

This latest deal follows a similar award of the rights to operate the East GTA bundle of properties (Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Ajax Downs and the Great Blue Heron Casino in Port Perry) to a consortium led by Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and Brookfield Business Partners LP in August.

In a statement announcing the award, Great Canadian Gaming’s President and CEO Rod N. Baker said: “Being awarded the West GTA Bundle is a true milestone for Great Canadian and the Partnership. We thank OLG for their confidence in our company and for providing us the opportunity to showcase and apply our gaming, racing, hospitality and development expertise to the selected properties.”

Jeff Parr, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Clairvest Group Inc added: “We are thrilled that OLG has selected the Partnership as the service provider for the West GTA Bundle. Together with Great Canadian, we are confident in our ability to deliver a unique and spectacular gaming and entertainment experience at the four properties within the bundle.”