Cinderella won’t have her chance to wear a glass slipper, the NCAA Tournament having been canceled for the first time in 81 years.
NCAA Tournament
The Review-Journal announces the bracket for the “What If Tournament,” which will play out over the next three weeks.
Some bettors had contacted the Review-Journal after they were unable to cash their tickets following the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.
The secondary sports betting market website is asking sellers to pay back buyers who purchased NCAA Tournament futures that are now virtually worthless.
The NCAA canceled its basketball tournaments and all other remaining championship events on Thursday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nevada sportsbooks won $36.5 million on basketball in March 2019 from $498.7 million in bets, with an estimated $349 million from the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA decided to not only cancel its men’s and women’s basketball championships, but all remaining winter and spring championships because of the spread of coronavirus.
Several college basketball conference tournaments have been canceled moments before tipoff, putting the NCAA Tournament at risk.
The casino is monitoring developments with the coronavirus, but its 1,500-seat auditorium will be open for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket figures to be more maddening than ever this year with no dominant college basketball team to be found.
The lack of mobile wagering and a ban on betting on California colleges and universities could prevent Nevada sportsbooks from facing crushing competition.
The NCAA will start accepting bids Monday on nearly two dozen sports championships. This is the first year that Las Vegas is eligible to bid after the governing body for college sports indefinitely suspended a ban last year that prevented events from being hosted in states that accept wagers on single games.
Las Vegas took one step closer Friday to landing major college postseason events such as the Final Four men’s basketball tournament and the College Football Playoff National Championship.
An estimated $346.6 million was wagered at Nevada sportsbooks on the NCAA Tournament in March.
Derek Stevens, who owns the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate, placed a $100,000 bet to win $105,000 on an intriguing college basketball prop at the South Point sports book.