The annual men’s basketball NCAA tournament will tip off on Thursday and there’s a very good chance someone you know will be betting on it.
According to an American Gaming Association (AGA) survey released Monday, one in five American adults will bet on March Madness this year with bookies or brackets.
The AGA projects 149 million brackets will be filled out this week by 40 million Americans. Additionally, another 18 million adults will bet on the tournament via a bookmaker.
If those numbers hold, that would mean the NCAA tournament would have generated 40 percent more betting than the Super Bowl, making it the most popular U.S. sporting event for gambling.
All told, the AGA estimates $8.5 billion to be wagered on March Madness this year.
“Unlike any other sporting event in the country, March Madness attracts millions who fill out brackets, make casual bets with friends or wager at a legal sportsbook, which Americans can now do more than ever before,” said AGA president and chief executive officer Bill Miller.
In addition to asking Americans about their betting tendencies, the survey also asked respondents which team they thought would win the tournament.
Twenty-nine percent of survey participants picked Duke to win the national championship. They are the top-seeded team in the tourney and, with Zion Williamson healthy, are the prevailing favorite to win it all.
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