By the Numbers: March Madness

0

Cost of entry to the three-day March Madness Music Festival to be held in Houston April 1-3, featuring Maroon 5.

1.2

Percentage of college basketball players who are drafted by an NBA team.

75

Percentage of college basketball players who believe they will play professional basketball.

50

The percentage increase in vasectomies reported by urologists in days leading up to the NCAA tournament. The term Vas Madness represents the recent increase in men who undergo vasectomies so they can recover at home during the annual college basketball tournament.

1996

The last year the Final Four was held in an arena (Continental Airlines Arena at The Meadowlands). Since then the Final Four is held exclusively in much larger domes. In 2003 the minimum capacity for a Final Four venue was set at 40,000.

$212,000

The estimated average value of a college basketball player to his school and program, according to a 2014 study.

$24.2 million

The average annual profit raked in by the top-ranked University of Louisville basketball program. Not all college basketball programs are moneymakers. West Virginia and Notre Dame reportedly lose $2 million annually.

$1.9 billion

Estimated loss incurred by businesses due to employees being distracted and unproductive during the basketball tournament.

$9 billion

The estimated amount wagered on some 70 million March Madness brackets filled out for the 2015 tournament.

$10.8 billion

Amount paid by CBS and Turner Sports to the NCAA for the rights to broadcast the March Madness tournament for a 14-year period that ends in 2024.

1 in 9.2 Quintillion

Your odds of choosing the correct winners from start to finish. (A quintillion is a 1 followed by 18 zeros.) You have a far better chance of being struck by lightning, bitten by a shark, winning the lottery or becoming an NBA player.

Source: ESPN, Money, American Gaming Association