Efficiency in the madness? examining the betting market for the ncaa men’s basketball tournament

Daniel Hickman

Journal of Economics and Finance, 2020, vol. 44, issue 3, No 10, 626 pages

Abstract: Abstract The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is one of the most popular sporting events in the world and gives rise to a substantial betting market. This study uses data from 1996 to 2019 to examine efficiency in this market and to analyze whether bettors display any significant biases with respect to tournament seeding or conference affiliation of participants. The results indicate the market operates at an efficient level, with very little in the way of detectable bias based on seeding. The most noticeable anomaly is a tendency for teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to cover the spread less than would be expected in an efficient market, particularly in the opening round.

Keywords: Market efficiency; NCAA basketball; Gambling; Betting markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G14 L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s12197-020-09507-7

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