The AGA reports that Americans will wager around $3.3bn legally on the 2026 NCAA Division I March Madness basketball tournaments.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has projected that Americans will wager around $3.3bn legally on the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, also known as March Madness.
The figure represents a 54% increase from what Americans wagered three years ago. The AGA attributes this to an increase in state and tribal regulated sports betting markets and growing confidence in legal sports betting.
March Madness remains one of the biggest betting periods in the US sporting calendar. More and more, Americans are getting in on the regulated action during the college hoops tournaments, AGA president and CEO Bill Miller explained.
The association said engagement with legal betting platforms continues to reach record levels during the event.
Prediction markets advertising on the up
Meanwhile, advertising data collected by Sensor Tower and compiled by the AGA shows a sharp shift in digital marketing patterns across the betting sector.
Digital ad impressions for online sportsbooks dropped almost 14% in 2025.
In contrast, advertising tied to prediction market platforms increased significantly during the same period. As a result, prediction market promotions represent a growing share of sports wagering-related advertising seen by consumers.
The AGA reported that approximately 15% of digital sports betting advertisements shown in 2025 did not comply with state requirements for responsible gaming messaging.
These ads were linked to prediction market operators, rather than regulated sportsbooks. Kalshi appeared as one of the most visible advertisers in 2025, and by digital ad impressions it ranked third among US sports betting advertisers.
Data covering this past January and February shows prediction market advertising expanding further.
Roughly 43% of digital sports betting advertisements seen by US consumers during that period lacked responsible gaming messaging required under state gaming regulations.
Kalshi recorded about 5.2 billion digital ad impressions during early 2026, according to the AGA’s findings. That figure exceeded the 2.9 billion attributed to FanDuel, the next most visible sports betting advertiser in the period.
Sportsbooks reduce advertising spend
Despite rising betting activity, overall sportsbook advertising continues to decline. The AGA commissioned a study examining advertising patterns across the US sports betting market during 2025.
The research used Ad Intel, Nielsen’s monitoring system that tracks advertising spending across television, print, digital, cinema and out-of-home channels. Digital advertising figures were derived from Sensor Tower’s Pathmatics analytics platform.
The study found that total sports betting advertising spend declined 5% year-on-year. Overall advertising volume across all channels dropped 1% compared with 2024 and remains 27% lower than its 2021 peak.
Television advertising for sports betting declined further. TV advertising volume fell 9% in 2025 and has dropped 50% since 2021.
Sports betting advertising represents a small portion of the US television market. In 2025, the sector accounted for 0.9% of total TV ad spending.
Alcohol advertising represented 1.5% of television ad spending during the same period. Pharmaceutical advertising remained dominant, accounting for 13.9% of TV advertising volume.
The data suggested that for every sports betting advertisement aired on television in 2025, 39 pharmaceutical advertisements appeared.