NCAA Gambling Moves Online

March Madness is at its height. The Men's College Basketball Championship is about to enter its Sweet 16 stage and bettors around the world are following closely. Online gambling for March Madness has already passed the totals wagered in Las Vegas.

Undoubtedly, the Internet betting industry has stepped up and the options punters face are exceptional: live betting, mobile betting and more.

More than a happenstance
This is not a freak event by any means. March Madness is at the heart of every sports fan's annual calendar; it is the main stage of sports betting. The loss of income by the dealers of old to the new technology is taking place in other fields as well, such as television losing viewers to online video services.

Giant figures
To better set the picture clear, here are a couple of figures that are floating:

• Las Vegas casinos expect nearly $100 million to be bet on the tournament by people visiting the city during the tournament. This figure does not include accommodation expenses.
• CBS pays about half a billion dollars for the rights to broadcast the tournament, part of a multi-year deal.
• Gambling911 expect online betting traffic to be double that of last year's tournament.

What's next
For one, there is much too much money to be kept by only one party, and Las Vegas is already facing competition. It's now just a matter of dealing with them. And there is plenty to go around and keep everybody satisfied.

Now we can hope they target not each other in battles, but the players, bettors and punters in service.