March Madness preview 🏀
Hello from SurveyMonkey!
Welcome to the latest installment of our research newsletter. This week, Brianna is back to share exclusive data on who’s tuning into (and betting on) the upcoming March Madness tournament. Plus, see how Americans feel about the NCAA’s decision to extend the “March Madness” slogan to the women’s games. Read on to learn more!
But first, as always, we wanted to shout out some of our research data in the news and on our blog:
Our new survey with the Los Angeles Times polled more than 3K people across the U.S. in the days just before the MLB lockout was finally resolved, and found that the dispute has caused fans to lose interest in the baseball season this year. Read the coverage in the Los Angeles Times or check out our blog post.
Our third annual Women at Work survey with CNBC finds a rebound in ambition among women workers across the U.S. as we enter the third year of the COVID pandemic. Read the full story or check out our blog post with all the data.
Exclusive data: March Madness preview
More than 4 in 10 (44%) adults plan to tune into this year’s March Madness tournament, while 51% plan to skip the games according to an exclusive SurveyMonkey poll for our newsletter readers. Among those planning to watch, 25% plan to tune into both men’s and women’s games, 15% plan to just watch men’s games, and only 4% plan to exclusively watch women’s games.
Self-described “big fans” of NCAA basketball lead in viewership: 97% plan to watch either a men’s game, women’s game, or both
66% of Blacks will tune into either a men’s game, women’s game, or both vs. 39% of whites, 47% of Asians, 51% of Hispanics, and 33% of adults of another race
While 44% plan to tune into the games, only 29% consider themselves fans of NCAA basketball (11% are big fans; 18% are casual fans). Another 14% just tune in for March Madness.
47% of Blacks are fans vs. 29% of Hispanics, 26% of whites, 23% of Asians and 23% of adults of another race
Men are twice as likely to consider themselves “big” fans compared with women (14% vs. 7%)
Location, location, location
For those planning to watch, location is key: a third (34%) say they’re most likely to root for teams near their location rather than their alma mater (14%) or their family member’s alma mater (9%). Those with a college degree are most likely to support their alma mater with 1 in 4 (25%) staying loyal to their college team. Still, cheering on a local team is the most popular choice among all adults – even big and casual fans.
While only 11% say they’re most likely to root for a top-seeded team, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State and Michigan (all top-seeded teams) receive the most support among those planning to watch.
Overwhelming majority would root for an underdog over a top-seeded team
Over half (56%) of those planning to tune in say they’d be most excited to watch a game with a top-seeded team vs. another top-seeded team. Only 9% would be excited to watch two bottom-seeded teams duel it out, while 31% would be excited to watch a bottom-seeded team vs. a top-seeded team.
However, the overwhelming majority (83%) say they’d be likely to root for an underdog over a top-seeded team.
45% of big fans and 40% of March Madness watchers say they’re “very likely” to root for the underdog vs. 28% of casual fans
NCAA’s decision to extend “March Madness” slogan to women’s games receives widespread support
Over half of adults (53%) say the NCAA undervalues women’s basketball. One in 3 (29%) say the NCAA equally values women’s basketball while just 9% say the NCAA overvalues women’s basketball.
Men are more likely to say the NCAA equally values women's basketball compared with women (34% vs. 24%)
61% of “big” NCAA basketball fans and 61% of casual fans say the NCAA undervalues women’s basketball vs. 54% of those who just watch March Madness and 50% of non-NCAA basketball fans
The overwhelming majority (78%) support the NCAA’s recent decision to extend the “March Madness” slogan to the women’s basketball tournament. Just 12% oppose this decision.
The decision garners widespread support among all adults, especially “big” NCAA basketball fans: 94% support the decision vs. 92% of casual fans and 87% of those who just watch March Madness.
Republicans are twice as likely to oppose this decision compared with Democrats (15% vs. 7%)
Some plan to fill out a bracket, but few will place bets
Among those planning to watch, 41% say they plan to fill out a bracket for this year’s March Madness while 57% don’t plan to. Among those planning to do so, 23% say they’ll fill one out with friends and family while 11% will fill one out alone and 8% will complete one with coworkers.
64% of “big” NCAA basketball fans plan to fill out a bracket vs. 44% of “casual” fans, 31% of those who just watch March Madness
Brackets are popular among young adults too: 51% of those 18-34 plan to fill one out vs. 41% of those 35-64 and just 28% of those 65+.
A few plan to invest more than their time (and hearts): 19% of those planning to watch say they’ll place bets on this year’s games. Yet the vast majority (79%) plan to play it safe and not place bets. Among bettors, 5% will place bets on mobile, 7% will place bets in person and another 7% will place bets on a desktop or laptop.
31% of those 18-34 plan to place bets vs. 16% of those 35-64 and 7% of those 65+
31% of “big” fans plan to place bets vs. 18% of “causal” fans, 13% of those who just watch March madness
Among those planning to bet, 37% will bet less than $50; 27% will bet between $50-$100; 21% will bet between $100-$500; 6% will bet between $500-$1000 and 7% will go big, betting more than $1000.
“Big fans” plan are twice as likely bet more than $1000 vs. “casual fans” (11% vs. 4%)
- Brianna Richardson
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading.