The Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division I basketball championships starts Thursday, and office workers and bookies nationwide are heavily invested in the outcome of the next round of games. But they aren't the only ones with a big stake in March Madness. Here's a look at college basketball's biggest event (and perhaps the most lucrative of any sport), by the numbers:
$10.8 billion
Price for TV and internet rights to the men's tournament over 14 years
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2024
Year when that new broadcast deal, between CBS and Turner Broadcasting, ends
$620 million
TV ad revenue CBS earned from last year's men's tournament
$100 million
Amount that championship game host Houston is expected to garner in direct spending
$100 million
Amount of federal tax revenue lost in 2006 due to Division I colleges' tax-exempt status
$256,000
What a men's Division I team earns for each tournament win
$26.7 million
Basketball revenue earned last season by perennial tournament favorite (and reigning national champ) Duke
$75 million
Estimated amount of March Madness wagers placed in Las Vegas
$3 billion
Estimated amount of March Madness wagers placed in U.S. office pools
$1.3 billion
Estimated cost of lost worker productivity during the tournament
5.9 million
Number of brackets submitted to ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge
Number that correctly picked all Sweet 16 men's teams
1
Number that correctly picked all Sweet 16 women's teams
7,549
President Obama's ranking in the ESPN men's bracket challenge (99.9th percentile)
37,812
Obama's ranking in the ESPN women's bracket challenge (81st percentile)
Sources: Yahoo/Investopedia, RealClearMarkets, TV By The Numbers, ESPN, L.A. Times, Forbes
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