March Madness is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, sports tournaments in the country. With the NCAA coming up in people’s minds only around this time, the tournament marks the only major source of revenue for the association. And we are talking in billions! While one may be reeling right now, thinking how much the players would be making off of the tournament, the truth is that the athletes participating in the much-hyped event do not earn a penny! In fact, no college players are legally permitted to be paid for playing. But then where does all that money go? To understand that, we must first learn where it comes from.

The NCAA grabs roughly $1 billion each year in revenue. According to Investopedia, the NCAA collected a net revenue of $1.28 billion in the 2022-23 season. From this, over 78% came from just the March Madness. These come from March Madness media rights, merchandise licensing, ticket sales, and corporate sponsorships. And undeniably, being the most loved and thrilling three-week event in the nation, everyone wants to be a part of it. In turn, they only bring more capital to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Apart from being an enormous income pool for the NCAA, March Madness also tips off the betting game. According to the American Gaming Association, a whopping 68 million people laid their odds. These were on the brackets and the results of the event in 2023. Surprisingly, it generated even bigger amounts of silver and copper, amounting to $15.5 billion.

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Moreover, the $1 billion that March Madness brings is majorly due to the men’s tournament, which contributes $900 million to the pot. The association then distributes a part of the total to its forming conferences. The more games that the teams from a single conference will play, the more money it will get.

More games = More money for the conferences

Hence, it usually happens that the more popular conferences like the SEC and ACC collect more cash from the tournament than the less popular ones like Big Sky. Also, while the income may only be a part of their total income for the big guns, it makes a significant part of the lesser-known conferences.

Consequently, while the bigger conferences distribute the mint equally between their member schools, smaller ones are not really able to. Nevertheless, no matter how much money it can get, the NCAA does help improve the athletic programs in all the schools. And on the players’ side, the law passed by the Supreme Court in 2021 helps them earn.

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While the players cannot earn through the games they play, the Supreme Court ruling allowed some of the collegiates to earn through their Name, Image, and Likeness, otherwise known as NIL deals. Stars like Angel Reese, Bronny James, and others signed big-money NIL deals, and players coming up from high school have a lot to look forward to nowadays apart from just playing.

March Madness – Origin and Backstory Behind NCAA Tournament’s Unique Name