New York, Maryland, D.C. Set Sports Betting Records During March Madness

Sports betting during March Madness proved to be quite profitable for several states that smashed monthly record totals.

New York, Maryland, and Washington D.C. revealed massive betting handles for the month of March that exceeded their previous record highs. New York, the nation’s leader in online sports betting, produced $230 million in revenue from casinos and legal and online sports betting sites.

There are well over 300 days until the next annual NCAA Tournament, but there are still opportunities for sportsbooks to continue their momentum during the upcoming sporting calendar.

March Madness is a single-elimination college basketball tournament that pits 68 teams in a series of matchups across a few weeks. Games are played in batches of two (excluding the First Four) on Thursday and Saturday plus Friday and Sunday, aside from the national championship, which occurred on a Monday night. 

The No. 4 Connecticut Huskies defeated the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs 76-59 to capture this year’s national championship trophy in dominating fashion. They also marked themselves in the history books as the only team to win every tournament game by at least 13 points.

But while UConn was dominating the hardwood, sportsbooks were controlling the fan engagement sector. The American Gaming Association estimated that over 68 million Americans would bet at least $15.5 billion combined during the event, and returns from the state reflect just how impactful March Madness betting was.

According to New York’s records, local bettors wagered nearly $1.8 billion on the state’s nine legal sportsbooks during March, the second-highest monthly total of all time. That resulted in $162.8 million in revenue, which surpassed the previous monthly record of $149.4 million.

New York was able to claim $83 million of that through the 51% tax on revenue—and that’s just from sports betting. Payments on revenue from poker, the lottery, table games, and other casino activities also contributed to arguably the most successful month in New York’s gambling history.

While the NBA playoffs are right around the corner, there are not many marquee events to cash in on in the immediate future. But, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is in the process of negotiating to build a new casino in his team’s parking lot near Willets Point, which could help ease the pain if it is agreed to.

New York was not the only state to show impressive returns on NCAA Tournament betting. Maryland and Washington D.C. also set records as the “madness” seeped into the sportsbooks.

At least $385 million was gambled at Maryland’s ten retail and eight online sportsbooks during March, which resulted in $5.3 million in allocations to the Maryland Future’s Fund, a public education program.

“This is a big deal,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “This is our largest month in terms of contribution. It will probably only be threatened by next March.”

96% of March’s handle came through the use of mobile sportsbook apps. Previous estimates suggested that number would fall between 80-85%, and Martin said that nobody was expecting mobile to dominate all other forms of betting to that degree.

In D.C., the Lottery’s GamBetDC generated $6.5 million in total betting handle in March. That was up roughly $800,000 from February and also a $300,000 increase on March 2022. GamBetDC claimed $860,000 of the total in revenue.

The nation’s capital reserves the first $200,000 of tax revenue every fiscal year to help address problem gambling. However, the roughly $600,000 that has already been secured has been in the dark. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is planning on reassigning the kitty to the general fund.

“[$600,000] would have been a good start [to combating problem gambling],” said Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. I’m not sure that that $600,000 would have ever been enough to stand up a program, but it would have been a good start.”