Trader’s View: March Madness in focus

In this month’s Trader’s View, March Madness is in focus with the college basketball season approaching its conclusion, and 68 of the best teams from the across the USA ready to duke it out for a shot at the Final Four and basketball supremacy.

Below, Kambi’s Head of NCAA Trading, Chris McNamara, previews the event and outlines what Kambi will be offering from a product perspective during the tournament.

Q: What makes March Madness such an important event for Kambi’s partners?

A: March Madness is a hugely important event for Kambi’s partners for a variety of reasons. The tournament captures the hearts and minds of the US public with its exhilarating elimination format where the blue blood
goliaths can be taken out by the underdogs in a fairytale Cinderella matchup where there’s no second chances.

As far as entertainment goes the events are nearly always high drama, that you would find hard to believe even if Hollywood scripted it. The tournament is culturally engrained into US society with those seldom watching a hoops game all year suddenly Bracket experts come March.

The tournament also takes place in the sweet spot between the end of Football season and the start of baseball season, so it dominates the US sporting landscape and media narrative for March. The games are at neutral venues and placed across the US. All the above factors generate huge betting potential hence why the tournament is of great importance for Kambi and its partners.

Q: What makes college basketball different from other sports when it comes to betting?

A: College basketball is like no other sport when it comes to betting due to its volatility and randomness. As pure entertainment goes it can be a rollercoaster ride, one moment you’re counting the winnings the next you’re sweating out the final two minutes with the game on a knife edge.

The ebbs and flows are unique to college basketball as is the ability between a dozen or so teams where the game could go either way. Whereas in other college sports or pro sports you typically see the same teams dominate or rarely see upsets, college basketball is where dreams
can come true.

Q: Who are the favourites we should be looking out for? Are there any outsiders with a chance of springing a surprise?

A: UConn are the defending champions; they look set for a good defence of their title. This year the blue bloods like Kansas, Duke, UNC and Kentucky are all lurking ominously. So much depends on peaking at the right time, also the bracket draw and the specific matchups of each game luck/variables play a huge factor. There are always a few outsiders that go on a surprising run that can be backed at juicy odds, the likes of Baylor (currently 41.00/+4000) are a big price yet play in a really strong conference and on their day can beat anyone.

Q: What can we expect from Kambi’s product ahead of and during March Madness?

A: Our partners can expect another industry leading pre-match offering
with all the events offered with same game parlay combinability. The addition of player props on all games with alternate lines over and under that will be combinable. Alongside this, we’ll have we’ll have a wide menu of outright markets and tournament specials for each bracket.