This week, people across the country will fill out brackets, maybe throw $5 or $10 into the hat and watch the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with great interest. Office workers who have little to talk about at other times will commiserate over why someone was seeded 12th and the difficulty at paying attention to their work on Thursday and Friday this week.
Every year, experts talk about how this week drains productivity from offices across the country because March Madness occupies the attention of so many people. I can’t imagine what will happen next year when people will have one more reason to get distracted.
Sometime soon, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will likely unveil his plans for sports betting in the First State. An obscure law allows the state (along with Montana and Oregon) to join Nevada in offering bets on sports. Markell’s plans may allow people to place bets in sports bars along with the existing racinos across the state.
This is one of those times when I am proud to be an American. In fact, I want to reserve a seat at a bar in Delaware for this time next year.
Sure, the plan calls for all bets to be parlay bets, which means you have to bet on multiple games and win all of them in order to cash out. That could make other events a little less fun since the odds are worse, but parlays are perfect for March Madness, when the first two days of the tournament each feature 16 games. Can you imagine the betting possibilities?
I just hope I can survive this year with nothing but a few brackets to follow.
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