Today marks the official start of March Madness tournament games. Last year was written off because of COVID-19 and this year might make up the difference. Sports gambling is expected to be extremely attractive this time around and, according to some analysts, Illinois is in a particularly good spot to see record revenue from NCAA Men’s Basketball.
Illinois already has a strong sports gambling market, becoming one of only four states in January to surpass $500 million in wagers in a single month. The state’s sportsbooks reported a total handle of $600 million, which also gave Illinois $7.2 million in tax revenue. With March Madness now beginning and sports gamblers warmed up, there’s more action to come and Illinois is expected to see a record-setting $188 million wagered on the tournament’s games.
Part of the reason for the boost is because the Illinois Fighting Illini are in the tournament and are one of the top favorites to win. They are second-highest, according to the odds posted by the William Hill sportsbook, getting +400. This is right behind the Gonzaga Bulldogs and their undefeated record and just above the Baylor Bears. Gonzaga is getting +210, while Baylor is at +500.
Should the Fighting Illini survive the early round and make a deep run in March Madness, the amount wagered in Illinois could go even higher. However, any wagers on the team won’t come from within the state, as Illinois, like 12 other legal states, prohibits gambling on in-state college teams. Some are hoping to see this change, including Joe Boozell of PlayIllinois.com. He explains, “I’m not going to say it will, but there is optimism that it could be changed by next football season which is great, and that means by next year’s March Madness it would be changed.
A bill is already in the works to remove the restriction, but would allow colleges and universities to have the final decision. Schools that don’t want to have sports wagers placed on their teams would be able to petition the Illinois Gaming Board for exclusion, although the hope is that this wouldn’t happen. Adds Boozell, “In general, sports books do make money off of March Madness and it’s taxed so the state makes money off of it, so it definitely impacts the consumer but also the operators and the government as well.”
Today will see the First Four games of March Madness. Illinois will play in the first round, taking on the Drexel Dragons tomorrow. This probably won’t be one of the games that will see a lot of action, as the Fighting Illini are -10000 favorites to win on a -22.5-point spread.
