47 Million Americans Set To Bet on NCAA March Madness, AGA Predicts

Roughly 1 in 5 Americans will wager approximately $8.5 billion on this year's tournament.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament - March Madness, is set to tip off with the 'First Four' tonight at 22:40 GMT and it will run until April 8 with the Championship Game between the two top teams. This year, according to a new report by the American Gaming Association (AGA) has predicted the biggest betting year on record, expecting over 47 million Americans to place a wager on the action. That is a huge number by any standards, and to put it into perspective, over double the gambling number from this year's Superbowl.

The AGA predicts that around 40 million people will be betting before the tournament, filling out 149 million brackets, for a whopping $4.6 billion. In addition to brackets, around 18 million Americans will be placing wagers with an online sportsbook, through a bookie, or amongst friends worth $3.9 billion.

A Big Year for NCAA Betting

The AGA's statistics show that the biggest betting state will be Kentucky with up to 31% of residents planning to make a bet. In Kansas, another state without gambling regulation, 25% of Kansans will be placing a bet. In contrast, in New Jersey, with a regulated industry, 23% will be betting, in Nevada 20%, Arizona only 12%, Mississippi 13%, W.Virginia 17%, Pennsylvania 19%, Delaware 20%, and Rhode Island 16%. The National average is around 1 in 5.

With legal sports gambling restricted to a handful of states, less than a quarter of the expected $3.9 billion will be bet legally through regulated channels. Illegal betting is still a significant problem in the US, and 7.6 million people will bet illegally either with bookies, or, online on an offshore illicit website.

If the US had a nationwide legal, regulated gambling industry, the number of illegal gamblers would be eradicated, and tax profits from the entirety of the $8.5 billion could be put into much-needed community projects throughout the country. Not to mention stopping a significant revenue stream of organized crime organizations. The AGA has focused on ending the illegal market, but there is still much more to be done.