- March 30, 2015
- 8:55 am
- Sara K. Gramata
- no comments
The Madness of March Madness
Nikki Stenerson shares her thoughts on the NCAA basketball tournament:
March Madness, “The Big Dance”, 68 teams, 3 weeks and billions upon billions of dollars. The money this tournament brings in is astonishing. Let’s break it down.
In 2014, TV revenues alone for the tournament totaled 1.13 billion dollars. Yes, that’s billions. With a “b”. Last year, it cost 1.5 million for a 30-second ad during the championship game. These numbers are only expected to increase in 2015.
The host of The Final Four, Indianapolis, is expected to bring in 70.8 million dollars in revenue and 70,000 fans to the city over the course of the tournament.
A single game tournament ticket averages about $344. A ticket to the Final Four and the championship? Well, those will run you about $2300 each.
Now let’s talk gambling. The reason most of us actively watch the tournament is probably because we’ve filled out a bracket, tossed a few bucks into the pool and are hoping against all odds that this is the year we finally have the perfect bracket. Which by the way, the odds of having a perfect bracket–1 in 9.2 quintillion; no wonder I always end up disappointed. 10% of the U.S. enters into a bracket pool, and that’s just the people who are betting on this thing. So how much money are we talking here? An insane $12 billion (yes, that’s billions with a “b” again) is estimated to be wagered on the tournament in 2015.
March Madness is huge business. The tournament rivals the Super Bowl and the Olympics in revenues. With numbers already exceeding previous years, revenues for the 2015 tournament are likely going to be the highest ever and are expected to increase in coming years. Too bad I can’t say the same thing for my bracket success.