March Madness is $3.3 billion TV monster that is bigger than Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Masters

Mar 18, 2026 - 14:30

It is the sports version of an age-old question.

What is better: a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?

Cameron Boozer can make his name in the NCAA Tournament

Money pours out of March Madness

The power of the NBA has turned LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama into international sports heroes.

But March Madness is just that — absolutely mad — and there’s nothing in the world like the NCAA‘s version of a lose-and-you’re-out tournament, which criss-crosses a huge country for multiple weeks and rakes in more than $1 billion a year in revenue.

According to the American Gaming Association, bettors are expected to legally wager $3.3 billion on the men’s and women’s tournament games in 2026, which is a 54 percent increase compared to three years ago.

That’s a staggering amount financially and even tops Super Bowl betting ($1.7bn) in the United States.

“March Madness is the highlight of the college basketball season and fans are gearing up for a month of tournament action,” Bill Miller, President and CEO of the AGA, said in a statement.

Nothing competes globally on television with the World Cup, which registers 5 billion viewers.

But that massive tournament only happens every four years, while March Madness takes over TVs annually in America.

The Final Four also tops The Masters and NBA Finals in viewers, according to Betsson.

One winner in basketball debate

Which basketball tournament is better, the NBA playoffs or March Madness?

Easy answer: The Dance.

Caitlin Clark hit the map in March Madness

Stephen Curry announced himself to the world in The Dance[/caption]

To put March Madness in perspective, imagine combining Wimbledon with the Euros, then having 68 teams — huge universities and small schools — play games hour after hour and day after day in locations as diverse as Dayton, Ohio and Greenville, South Carolina.

Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird all first made their worldwide basketball names in March, bouncing across the country and taking over TVs.

Carmelo Anthony was at his coolest in the madness.

In sports-obsessed America, there is no equivalent to the NCAA Tournament, which has been lifted even higher in recent years due to the rise of the women’s game.

From MJ and Melo to Reese and Clark

It’s also the only great American sport in which a No. 16 seed can knock off a 1.

March Madness takes over America’s sports scene for a month and saturates TVs in offices, bars, restaurants and homes.

March Madness is more popular than the NBA Finals and The Masters

There is also no match for the addicting power of a March Madness bracket — if you haven’t filled one out yet and quickly watched it crumble to shreds, you haven’t fully lived.

Just ask Rory McIlroy.

Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the latest big college name set to leap to the pros, while BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. should soon be wearing NBA uniforms.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese previously took the women’s game to a new level.

“Congrats to @CaitlinClark22, the greatest scorer in the history of women’s college basketball!” former United States President Barack Obama tweeted in March 2024.

Upsets drive the madness in March

Florida Gulf Coast, George Mason, Davidson and Loyola Chicago have become synonymous with Cinderella on the hardwood, with fans from coast to coast suddenly rooting for teams and players they previously hadn’t heard of.

Michael Jordan came of age in the NCAA Tournament vs Patrick Ewing

March Madness is the most unique major event in American sports and hasn’t lost its shine, despite gradually changing since the first tournament was played in 1939.

Sixty-eight teams now make The Dance — please don’t expand to an absurd 76, NCAA — and mid-March means one thing in the USA: college basketball is taking over again.

Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida spent the 2025-26 season among the best in the sport, and all four top seeds are currently dreaming of April’s Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Golf is boring compared to The Dance

America won’t go crazy for the Detroit Pistons winning the NBA Finals or the small-market Oklahoma City Thunder repeating as world champs again.

Giving in to the madness of March is easy, and it spreads from the men’s to the women’s game.

The Dance is sports perfection and the best thing about basketball, year after glorious year.

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