March Madness is exactly what it says on the tin – madness. Today, we speak with Amelco director of trading Mark Hill who walks us through the event and what it means for sportsbooks, but also how it can galvanize lawmakers around the US to take a harder look at this opportunity to regulate the activity. Enjoy our conversation with Mark below.
Q: March Madness is exactly what it says on the tin – madness. With upsets, shocks and fairy-tale stories, how difficult can it be pricing up this huge sporting event?
Core pricing itself tends to be relatively straightforward as the market has matured over the course of the NCAA season where all 68 teams entering the bracket will have clocked up over 30 games. This is a decent sample size when you consider the NFL regular season is just 17 games! Coaching tendencies are known, and line-ups and rotations are settled but of course, everyone loves the underdog story and the big upsets when variance comes to play. Last year, it was St. Peter’s that became the giant killer after their unexpected run and undoubtedly, we’ll see other low seeds progress in 2023 to capture the public’s imagination once again.
Q: Do you expect March Madness to match, or even exceed, the betting activity we saw in last month’s Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl was a huge success for Amelco as we notched up a record handle. As a platform provider and trading floor, we are benefitting from new product rollouts, new integrations, and market access in a number of new states compared to the previous year. We expect that promising business to carry over into March Madness with this iteration of the big tournament set to be far and away our biggest yet.
Q: Will the expected high volumes be a driver for more States to encourage legalised sports betting?
We enter the 2023 tournament as a licenced platform provider in 17 states with eyes set on further expansion in the year ahead. Our sportsbook partners operate across a wide variety of regulated states, competing with the ‘big boys’ in mass markets such as Colorado, Michigan and New Jersey through to a more localised landscape in the likes of Arkansas and Wyoming. There hasn’t been an optimised ‘one size fits all’ approach from a regulator yet. Those states who are nearing legalisation, but have sat on the sidelines so far, will have observed the sizeable tax benefits and varying degrees of success that the existing models from other states have provided. This has to have an underlying appeal that should see more states become legalised as we move further into 2023 and beyond.
Q: As mobile betting grows in popularity, can we expect that to become the pre-eminent method of sports betting in the US for the foreseeable future?
Online mobile growth is far exceeding that of the land-based model. However, there is room and merit for both to grow side-by-side. We have seen impressive retail numbers at launch for Fanatics at FedEx Field whilst our more traditional casino and hotel-based business continues to boom. At Amelco, we pride ourselves on developing both mediums at a fast pace to keep up with the latest industry demands and requirements. In-person wagering and enjoying the company of others will always trump sitting alone betting on an app while taking in marquee events and tournaments. We saw record retail numbers during the soccer World Cup and the Super Bowl and we now expect that to continue into March Madness.
Q: With both the Super Bowl and March Madness in a small time period, how can sports bettors remain engaged in the lull period after these events?
There is no shortage of action after March Madness concludes. The NBA and NHL playoffs get underway at the conclusion of tournament play in the NCAA, whilst we have tennis and golf Majors to look forward to as well. In soccer, there looks set to be an exciting end to the EPL, Champions League and other major leagues globally in May and June and the MLB season will have also ramped up. Away from the sporting field, there are one-off events such as the NFL draft that continue to grow in popularity from a wagering perspective year-on-year. Traditionally, the summer months are seen as downtime for operators and bettors alike but we’re optimistic about capturing and maintaining business during this period with competitive and diverse offerings across multiple sports.