March Madness: Basketball, busted brackets, and billions of dollars

Loren Torres brings you the biggest news of the day, including all you need to know about the numbers behind the NCAA Tournament.

Transcript

00:00The NCAA tournament is officially here, and while everyone is focused on the action,

00:04there's another side to March Madness, the money.

00:07According to WalletHub, the NCAA is slated to bring in $1.4 billion in revenue for the 2024 college basketball season.

00:14And this season will end in San Antonio, where 100,000 visitors will make an estimated $400 million economic impact over the Final Four weekend.

00:21An estimated $2.7 billion in legal bets will be placed during the tournament,

00:25but another $4 billion in illegal wagers will also be placed.

00:29All of that betting is sure to take people's attention away from what they're supposed to be doing, right?

00:33The average worker will spend six hours watching the tournament,

00:36which will factor into the $17 billion in corporate losses employers will suffer due to the dip in productivity.

00:42And what kind of March Madness would it be without filling out a bracket, or two, or $80 million?

00:47WalletHub says that's how many people are projected to take part in a bracket pool.

00:51And if you think you know enough ball to fill out a perfect bracket, you don't.

00:54The odds of picking every single game correctly are one in 9.2 quintillion.

00:58One quintillion is equal to one billion billions.

01:01You have a better chance of winning back-to-back lotteries with only one ticket played each time.

01:05That'll do it for your daily briefing from New York City. I'm Lauren Torres with The Street.