Legalized sports gambling is one of the most fascinating topics in the sporting world today. In just the past few years, ESPN and Fox Sports have started gambling shows, betting spreads are now shown on major networks at all times next to a game/team, and the money being wagered just keeps rising. Legalization is also around right around the corner for many states that have introduced bills. According to Darren Rovell of the Action Network, sports betting is legal (albeit with slight differences from state to state) in 21 states. So, why has the sports media world, many states, and most major sporting leagues partnered with companies to expand their legal sports gambling operation? The answer is simple. There is a ton of money to be made for all involved, except a vast majority of the gamblers.
The NCAA Tournament is one of the most heavily gambled upon events on the sports calendar. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 47 million Americans were expected to wager approximately 8.5 billion dollars on the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Figures were only expected to increase in 2020. All of a sudden, with the cancellation of the tournament, hundreds of “futures” (a bet placed on a team to win the tournament during/before the 2019-20 season) are immediately regarded as bets that “push.” That means all money that was wagered is returned because of the cancellation. All of a sudden, billions of dollars that would have changed hands were returned to the sender. Even future bets made on the winner of most conference tournaments, including the Big Ten Tournament, had to be cancelled.
The gambling on the NCAA Tournament goes far beyond just legal wagers placed at Las Vegas sports books. Office pools, illegal sports books, and friendly wagers among friends field a large amount of money as well. You may not think of it this way, but paying five dollars to join your office bracket pool is sports gambling that could no longer exist without the NCAA Tournament.
With the cancellation of sports, we have also seen the vast cancellation of sports betting. All of a sudden, an industry that had seen a meteoric rise in the last few years has come to almost a complete halt. How will the industry adjust? That is an answer that sports books will have to figure out sooner rather than later.