Numbers show people in Illinois loved betting on March Madness
How much do the people of Illinois love betting on March Madness games? Well, let's put it this way, the numbers show they bet almost 5 times more money on March Madness than the Super Bowl...
According to an article from chicagosuntimes.com, there was $286.2 million dollars worth of bets placed in Illinois on March Madness Men's and Women's games, now the majority of that was on the men's tournament, only $7.8 million of that total was bet on women's games. So how much money did the casinos and the state of Illinois make off of the tournament betting? In the article they say...
"The casino sportsbooks came out ahead by more than $14.3 million collectively on the college hoops action...But the overall casino win generated almost $2.2 million in Illinois tax revenue. Sportsbooks have to send 15% of their winnings to the state."
Crazy to see that of the $286 million dollars bet the casinos only made a profit of $14.3 million, now how does March Madness betting compare to our love for betting on the NFL's biggest game? In the article they say...
"About $61 million was bet in Illinois on the Super Bowl, this year making $9.5 million for the books and $1.4 million for the state."
Nearly 5 times more money total was bet on the March Madness tournament compared to the Super Bowl and to be honest that number shocked me at first but then you have to remember there are soooo many more games during the bracket and the tournament runs for weeks compared to just one game for Suber Bowl Sunday. Still, though it goes to show that the people of Illinois love to bet on the major sporting events, I would love to see the numbers people bet on The Masters last weekend considering that there are no more major sporting events until the NBA Finals and NHL Stanley Cup in the coming weeks. Did you bet any money on March Madness?
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