Prepare to be upset because March Madness has officially kicked off and fans from across the country are flocking to Las Vegas to join in on the commotion.
When it comes to putting money on the line, a couple of Las Vegas sportsbooks say the first week of March Madness is more popular than Super Bowl weekend.
“The opening weekend, including the playing games with March Madness, does about two times the amount of actual betting activity as the Super Bowl,” said Caesar’s Entertainment Lead of College Basketball Rich Zanco.
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Sixty-eight schools are on the line the first weekend of March Madness, and fans come in from all over to cheer on their team.
“You got a lot of these bettors and fans of these teams that are alumni of these universities and schools. So there’s always upsets, there’s always cheering and a raucous crowd. People are getting their pour on probably at 9 a.m. early in the morning,” said Zanco.
The American Gaming Association predicts fans will bet a whopping $3.1 billion dollars on the tournaments this year – which is up $400 million from last year.
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“As more states get on board, you start to see the betting interest and fever growing. So it’s grown from people just filling out brackets to having maybe a little office pool to now they’re able to get on a phone app or whatever the case may be or going to their sportsbook,” said Zanco.
While sports betting is legal in more states than ever, Las Vegas is still a hot spot to enjoy the tournament.
“It might seem counterintuitive that it benefits Nevada and Las Vegas to have so many states have legalized gambling and sports wagering. But it’s actually a good thing in that it’s almost a training ground for folks now that more can get involved in this form of entertainment,” said Circa VP of Operations Mike Palm.
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But, even with more training, the odds of building a perfect bracket are still close to zero.
“It’s estimated to be 120 billion to one. If it was just, you know…if there was total randomness to it, like you were flipping a coin 67 times, it’s over a kajillion to one,” said Palm.
Besides brackets, some fun prop bets here in Vegas include: which state or conference will win the championship, and which of the lower-seeded schools will win a game.
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