With three weeks of games running from early morning to late at night, the annual NCAA March Madness is proving to be the biggest and most profitable event for Las Vegas sportsbooks.
Early estimates place the total betting handle through the first four days of the NCAA tournament at more than $110 million and South Point Race and Sports Marketing Director Jimmy Vaccaro estimates this year’s total betting handle from the start of the tourney through the April 4 national title game will top $210 million, statewide.
Vaccaro said the South Point posted its biggest betting handle during the tournament’s first week, with an approximate 15% gain from last year, but total numbers were not available. In recent years, Vaccaro said a typical year to year gain ranges from 5% to 8%.
With no clear favorite for this year’s NCAA title, betting activity has been brisk and the South Point’s many betting stations stayed very active.
“We had 22 betting stations where lots of people were making bets,” Vaccaro said. “It’s great for the city. This thing rivals the Super Bowl.”
At the world’s largest sportsbook, the SuperBook at Westgate, the tournament is growing in popularity each year.
“The handle numbers are just through the roof,” Westgate Vice President of Race and Sports Jay Kornegay said.
Thousands of basketball fans packed the SuperBook and the theater at the Westgate to watch the first four days of March Madness and Kornegay said the sportsbook posted double digit gains in both total betting handle and number of tickets written during the tournament’s first week.
He said betting action roughly was equal for both sides in most games, and despite some big upsets in the early rounds, including heavy favorites Michigan State and West Virginia losing first round games, many favored teams also covered.
Las Vegas sportsbooks mostly had Kansas and Michigan State as co-favorites to win the title at 5-to-1 odds, but the Spartans lost to 15th seed Middle Tennessee State on day two of the tournament. Kansas was favored at 3-to-1 entering the Sweet 16 round.
The Nevada State Gaming Control Board does not track wagering done specifically on the NCAA basketball tournament, but March 2015 it reported a record $375.5 million wagered on NCAA and NBA basketball. That figure bested the prior record set in March 2014 of $343.54 million.
This year’s tally likely will set a new record, especially if Vaccaro’s estimate of $210 million statewide is realized.
Nevada is one of only three states allowing legal sports betting and the only one that sets lines on NCAA basketball, but Vaccaro’s estimate of $210 million wagered in Nevada pales in comparison to what the American Gaming Association (AGA) says is wagered illegally across the country.
The AGA estimates U.S. bettors will wager $9.2 billion on the NCAA postseason this year, up from $9 billion last year.
But with sportsbooks banned in 49 of 50 states, nearly $9 billion of that action largely will go to offshore books and local bookies, according to the AGA.
The association estimates about 40 million Americans will submit some 70 million NCAA tournament brackets at an average cost of $29 each and says that amount demonstrates why more states should legalize sports betting.
“Americans’ passion for betting fuels the unmatched popularity of March Madness,” AGA President and CEO Geoff Freeman said.
“Betting increasingly drives sports fans, and even casual observers, to invest in the tournament, offering further evidence that sports betting is the new national pastime,” Freeman said. “It’s time for a fresh, rational approach to sports betting that reflects this reality.”
The frenzied betting activity at Nevada sports books and increased wagering each year would seem to affirm Freeman’s sentiment.
