March Madness Cancellation And No Basketball Betting Hits Sportsbooks Hard

 While the tournament was scheduled to start today, the madness was really ready to begin on Thursday with the most anticipated and exciting four days of college basketball. Sportsbooks and bookmakers across the world look forward to the March Madness more than any other event outside the Super Bowl, as the NCAA Tournament is the biggest betting event of the year.

The opening four days of March Madness is annually one of the busiest weekends in Las Vegas.

On the impact of no NCAA Tournament for Las Vegas, Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback told the Las Vegas Review Journal, “This was a big event for the whole city. Room rates go up, and they’re full. Restaurants are busy every night, and the bars are slammed. The sportsbook is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Now all Las Vegas MGM casinos and hotels are closed due to the historic COVID-19 public health crisis.

Bookmakers and sportsbooks including BetMGM are really taking a hit with the hiatus of this years NCAA Tournament. William Hill US Chief Executive Officer Joe Asher joined FOX Business to discuss the state of sports betting and the cancellation of the March Madness upon the NCAA announcement March 12.

Asher told Stuart Varney of FOX Business Network that the “first three days of March Madness equate to Super Bowl Sunday” in terms of betting activity and volume in Nevada. How much is that? A total of $154.7 million was wagered on Super Bowl LIV in Nevada this year.

Overall, the 2019 NCAA Tournament had approximately $349 million wagered in Nevada according to Nevada Gaming Control Board research analyst Michael Lawton. Sportsbooks across the Silver State took in profits of $36.5 million, which is nearly 7% of the total handle

Much of that was wagered at William Hill, America’s largest sportsbook operator with more than 100 betting locations in Nevada alone. With nearly 47 million American’s wagering on March Madness, you can imagine the crippling effect on bookmakers and sportsbooks across the country with the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Seventeen states in the U.S. now have legal sports betting. The loss of revenue is significant, and last year New Jersey sportsbooks took $372 million in bets on March Madness with a gross profit of $31.7 million, or 8.5% of the total handle.

Beyond the fans, brackets, betting, bookmakers and dollars missed for so many organizations that cover and count on the NCAA Tournament, this year’s “March Sadness” is especially disappointing for the players that have pursued their dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament and miss out on that opportunity this year.

It’s especially sad for the seniors, whose seasons end abruptly through no fault of their own. This shot by Utah State senior guard Sam Merrill was what tournament time is all about. Merrill hit a game-winning 3-point shot in the closing seconds of the Mountain West Championship game last week in Las Vegas to send the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State was already heading to the big dance as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, but these types of thrilling games and fantastic finishes is what so many fans (and bettors) were looking forward to with March Madness.