PlayMaker and PointsBet have teamed up. Under the teams of their agreement, PointsBet has been sponsoring content with Playmaker betting and Playmaker throughout NCAA’s March Madness tournament and will continue to do so after the tournament has been finalized. As a result of this partnership, PointsBet has been acting as the exclusive sponsor of various PlayMaker initiatives during the March Madness period.
Some of the events that PointsBet and PlayMaker have executed together during the tournament period include Playmaker 16, Playmaker 8 as well as at least Playmaker 4 free-to-play games. PointsBet also sponsored “Playmaker On the Street”, a digital series that was hosted by Dakota Wiley in various locations including New Orleans and Pittsburgh.
Throughout the tournament, PointsBet would partner up with several other influencers including Paige Spiranac the gold influencer, as well as Taryn Tempel, a former well-known field and track star. These content creators have been partnering up with PointsBet to create exciting and fun content for punters and PointsBet customers.
The campaign has proven to be a great customer acquisition tool while also helping to keep PointsBet customers engaged and entertained. The campaign has been instrumental in not just creating and promoting a community around sports wagering, but it has also helped to educate punters and teach them about responsible gambling during the exciting and highly charged March Madness period.
What we cover
PointsBet became the first sportsbook to offer live same game parlay wagers for NBA and NFL contests
At the start of the year, PointsBet announced that it would start offering live, in-game, same parlay options for both NBA and NFL contests. The live, in-game, same parlay options have been available as part of its OddsFactory technology integration. As a result of this proprietary integration, PointsBet customers now have the ability or build their perfect live same game parlay all while tracking their player performance, team stats, as well as tracking odds for better performance.
As a result of these new betting options, PointsBet became the first sportsbook in the country to offer live betting, as well as the ability for customers to build the same game parlay live. With these options, PointsBet customers simply select the same game parlay tab on the platform where they can parlay multiple outcomes while also watching their game live. PointsBet is also the only platform that offers punters live, in-game wagering opportunities with 0 suspensions across important markets of Moneyline and spread, which further helps the brand stand out among its sea of competitors.
Punters were expected to wager billions during this year’s March Madness
March Madness may only last for 3 weeks but the period is expected to generate revenue to the tune of billions for operators and the individual states that enjoy legal sports betting. According to experts, approximately 45 million punters in the country were expected to wager at least $3.1 billion on the 2022 NCAA Men’s Division I tournament. The American Gaming Association states that most of the wagers placed during March Madness will come from mobile apps and websites and not through brackets as has been the norm.
At the start of the season, the AGA had predicted that 76% of the sports bets would be placed online or in-person at sportsbooks, which will be a boost of 55% compared to last year’s performance. The NCAA bracket, which has been a classic wagering staple for the basketball tournament, had been losing momentum and popularity over the last decades until the pandemic changed all that.
As a result of the pandemic, the March Madness tournament had to be canceled to prevent the spread of the novel disease. At the time, the pandemic was an evolving public threat and it became impractical to host such a huge event during the crisis. This was the first time that the men’s Division 1 championship had not been played since its commencement in 1939.
The cancellation of the tournament noticeably harmed the tournament. However, it also helped to drum up some much-needed excitement and demand. That’s why this year, the 3-week long tournament was predicted to attract more legal wagers compared to the Super Bowl, which still stands as the biggest single sporting event in the country’s history.
After 2 very rocky years that have been disrupted by the pandemic though, March Madness has managed to make a powerful come back. The tournament this year was hosted on CBS Sports and Turner Sports. Disney’s properties ESPN, as well as ABC also aired the women’s NCAA tournament.
This year, it is estimated that punters will place bets worth around $1 billion on the Big Game, based on reports from the American Gaming Association. March Madness was predicted to attract 3 times that volume. Plus, unlike the Super Bowl which is a 1-day single event, March Madness features more than 60 games that are spread out over several weeks, which increases the amount to be wagered significantly.
Legal sportsbooks such as PointsBet have seen record handles as more and more punters have continued to make the shift from illegal sportsbooks to legal operators. Of course, the return of prominent programs has helped to greatly boost this year’s viewership. By the time that tournament was beginning, ad inventory for CBS had already been sold out.
Final Thoughts
The country has been gearing up for the NCAA tournaments for 2 years and with things finally getting back to normal, punters could not have been more excited to show up and show out. In 2020 the networks lost the tournament due to the pandemic and a year later, the event was held in a bubble. This year’s tournament was one of the most exciting ones yet as it also included the return of storied programs Kentucky and Duke, both of which were noticeably missing during last year’s tournament.
PointsBet has done a great job of entertaining its customers by creating amazing content that has not only educated punters but also helped them make more informed betting decisions. This explains why PointsBet’s presence in the country’s betting scene continues to grow.
