2024 March Madness Sportsbook Promos

Betting on March Madness is a massive deal. March Madness betting sites offer everything from championship futures to traditional bracket contests.

The best college basketball betting sites post moneylines, spreads, and totals for every NCAA tournament game and keep March Madness futures markets open all year long. 

See below for a detailed look at betting on March Madness.

Best March Madness betting sites

Top March Madness betting sites

Caesars Sportsbook

Nobody beats Caesars when it comes to March Madness game lines. NCAA basketball point spreads can be a half-point better than average, and the moneylines consistently allow you to lay less and win more.

Caesars also runs a variety of March Madness promos and odds boosts, although it does not typically run a March Madness bracket contest. Popular March Madness lines at Caesars Sportsbook include:

• Spreads, moneylines, and totals
• Team and player props
• Championship and Final Four futures 

DraftKings Sportsbook

DraftKings’ big-time, free-to-enter March Madness bracket contests stand out from the pack. Last season, the contests included a free shot at $100,000 for choosing the most unlikely teams to advance and a free $16,000 second-chance bracket contest for the busted bracket crowd.

You’ll also find various March Madness promos and odds boosts at DraftKings. Plus, DraftKings offers the most March Madness game betting options among US sportsbooks. Typical March Madness lines at DraftKings include:

• Spreads, moneylines, and totals
• Team and player props
• Championship and Final Four futures 
• Live game lines and props

BetMGM Sportsbook

The possible prize in BetMGM Sportsbook’s annual free-to-enter March Madness bracket contest is a thing of beauty. BetMGM promises to give $10 million (an unrivaled sum) to anyone putting together a perfect bracket.

Inevitably, no one does, but the contest still awards $100,000 to the best bracket. You'll also find several March Madness odds boosts and promos at BetMGM. Popular March Madness lines at BetMGM include:

• Spreads, moneylines, and totals
• Live March Madness lines
• Championship and Final Four futures

FanDuel Sportsbook

FanDuel Sportsbook typically runs one of the country's biggest free March Madness bracket contests. Previously, that has meant a bracket challenge offering $250,000 in prizes, including $100,000 for the best bracket.

FanDuel also understands it’s hard to win bracket contests and has previously awarded entries into a $1 million drawing to anyone betting on its tournament game lines. Those March Madness game lines are also quite competitive and commonly include:

• Spreads, moneylines, and totals
• Team and player props
• March Madness parlays

Betting on March Madness online

You can bet on March Madness online in a variety of ways. However, you'll need to sign up for an account with one (or more) of the top sports betting sites, make a deposit, and fill out a bet slip, contest entry, or bracket first. Here’s how:

• Click one of the links to a licensed online sportsbook above.
• Click on the “sign up” or “register” tab.
• Fill in the registration forms with all required information, including the promo or bonus code listed above.
• Accept all terms and conditions.
• Click on the “cashier” tab.
• Make a deposit using any available banking method, from credit cards and online banking to PayPal.
• Look at all your March Madness betting options, from bracket contests and futures to game lines and more.
• Click on any odds you want to bet or contest you’d like to enter.
• Fill out the contest entry form, bracket, or instantly created bet slip.

You can bet on March Madness futures all year and as much as you like. However, most bracket contests allow just one entry and open after the selection committee sets the tournament field.

March Madness game lines are posted online round by round throughout the tournament.  

March Madness futures betting

You can bet on March Madness futures anytime, all year long. You can pick teams to win it all or make the Final Four, and you place these bets at the odds as currently posted. The odds will change, but you lock in the odds at the time of your wager.

The odds are almost always longer in the offseason and shorten significantly for the favorites as tournament time approaches. That means the earlier you get a March Madness futures bet down, the more you stand to win.

March Madness game line betting

Once each matchup is set, you can bet on every NCAA tournament game in the following ways.

• Spread: Pick game winners with a point spread factored into the final score. 
• Moneyline: Pick straight-up game winners at currently posted odds. 
• Totals: Bet on the total combined score landing above or below a line set by sportsbooks. 
• Props: Bet on player or team stats in individual games. 
• Parlays: Combine two or more March Madness game lines or prop bets into one wager. Parlays pay better than the individual bets would, but you have to win every leg. March Madness same game parlays combine two or more game lines or prop bets from the same game.
• Live betting: Bet on March Madness game lines and props during games at odds constantly changing with the action on the court. Use one of the best sports betting apps to keep pace

March Madness bracket contest betting

Licensed online sportsbooks host free and paid March Madness bracket contests. Typically, you’ll need to pick winners for all 63 tournament games ahead of the tournament. However, alternative contests with different rules should be available.

The best brackets will split whatever prize pool is created or awarded, with the lion’s share going to the top entry. 

First Four betting

The First Four are the four tournament play-in games where the lowest-seeded automatic and at-large bids face off for a spot in the first round.

The games are typically held in Dayton, Ohio, a couple of days before the first round. You can bet on these games just like any other NCAA basketball game. Plus, many bracket contests now include the First Four games.

March Madness game betting vs. brackets

Filling out March Madness brackets and betting on individual games are not mutually exclusive. While bracket contests can give you a shot at big prizes, betting on individual games can be a solid way to make up for failing to snag one.

You can fill out March Madness brackets, bet game lines, props, and futures and enjoy the complete March Madness betting experience as much or as little as you want.

March Madness betting tips 

Watching NCAA basketball throughout the regular season and conference tournaments is the best way to prepare for betting on March Madness. However, the following trend-based March Madness betting tips may also help.

• No. 1 for a reason: No. 1 seeds had a 135-game first-round winning streak before No. 16 Maryland-Baltimore County beat No. 1 Virginia in 2018. It was the first time a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1, but Fairleigh Dickinson did the same to Purdue in 2023. Still, most of the time, No. 1 seeds win these first-round games. Betting against No. 1s in round one is probably a bad idea.
• Upsets happen, now more than ever: Upsets used to be a relative scarcity in the NCAA tournament, but things are changing fast. The record of 13 total upsets, set in 1985 and 2014, was smashed in 2023, when 18 lower-seeded teams upset higher-seeded teams, including 11 upsets in the first two rounds. Either 2023 was an outlier, or parity has come to NCAA basketball, and you’ll have to look for more upsets in your brackets and game line bets.
• The search for Cinderella: Finding this year’s Cinderella story can be the key to your bracket-building and betting success. Last season, it was either No. 15 Princeton going all the way to the Sweet 16 or No. 9 Florida Atlantic making the Final Four. Anyone who had those two had a real shot at winning a bracket contest and dined out on the moneylines. 
• The selection committee knows a little: There are upsets in March Madness, now more than ever. However, once you get to the Final Four, the higher-seeded team wins most of the time. Even in 2023, with all the upsets, No. 5 San Diego State beat No. 9 FAU, and No. 4 UConn beat No. 5 Miami. Plus, UConn beat San Diego State in the national championship game. It’s almost as if the selection committee knows something, even though all four No. 1 seeds were out before the Elite Eight for the first time in tournament history.