NCAA Tournament: Estimated $10 billion to bet on March Madness

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has estimated that in excess of $10bn will be wagered by Americans in the upcoming 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament. The amount bet nationwide is expected to be about the same as previous year.

"Our current sports betting laws are so out of touch with reality that we're turning tens of millions of Americans into criminals for the simple act of enjoying college basketball", AGA President and CEO Geoff Freeman said. Another Some 24 million of those sports betting enthusiasts participated in basketball brackets pools and this resulted in about $2.6 billion being spent on those entry fees. This is how the wagers placed in an illegal way seriously harm the industry and rob gambling developers from the opportunity to invest the generated income into future projects.

The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering a legal challenge from legislators in New Jersey, with a ruling expected later this year. Enforcing those laws, however, has not been a priority for law enforcement. According to the data which was issued, as many as 54 million people, amounting to 25 percent of the adults in the United States, have participated in a sports betting activity.

In a Monday, March 12 news release, a day removed from Selection Sunday, the organization reports that it believes only 3 percent of bets placed will be done legally through Nevada sports books.

A 1992 federal law banned traditional sports betting outside of the Silver State, and that's precisely what the casino industry wants to have struck down.

The American Gaming Association reports in its release that there are 48 pieces of sports betting legislation now spread across 18 states.

"There's a lot of money that's going to go to innovation that's now sitting on the sidelines", he said. While neutral on gambling, the group has been contacting New Jersey lawmakers to discuss needs that will arise if sports betting is legalized.

Almost 25 percent of the USA adult population admitted to participating in a sports betting pool in 2017.