March Madness Betting In New York
There are few sporting events in the world that match the excitement of March Madness, the three-week, 68-team, single-elimination NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament that comes around each spring. Bettors especially look forward to the huge number of opportunities the tournament brings.
Now that NY online sports betting has launched, bettors don’t have to go far and wide to get in on the action. Whether you enjoy filling out brackets or betting on individual games, futures or props, here’s all you need to know about wagering on college basketball in NY for March Madness.
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How New Yorkers can wager on March Madness online
To place wagers with a legal online operator in NY, you’re going to need an account. The sign-up process is quick and simple. You can get started by clicking the links on this page. Let’s take a look at what you need to do.
How to sign up and register an account from NY
After you hit our links, you’ll be brought to the main registration page. You’ll simply have to follow the prompts while entering the requested information which typically includes:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
These details help the operator verify your identity and check your eligibility to participate in legalized wagering. For NY online sites, users must be at least 21 years old.
After agreeing to terms, you’re all set. Be sure to find out about any promo codes you might need to submit in order to receive welcome bonuses.
When you decide to deposit funds, you’ll need to enter further information depending on which payment method you choose. Most sites accept the following forms of payment:
- Direct bank transfers
- Credit or debit cards
- Prepaid cards
- PayPal
- Skrill
You can complete the entire registration process right from your computer or device. Once you’re done, you’ll have access to a real live sports wagering site for all of your March Madness betting needs.
Best March Madness betting sites
Here’s a look at some of our favorite operators when it comes to wagering on college basketball.
| NY Sportsbook | Welcome Bonus Offer | Promo Code |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel Sportsbook | Get up to $300 back in Bonus Bets if your March Madness bet doesn't hit | Click to claim promo |
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March Madness bracket contests in New York
The top online sites also provide various free-to-play March Madness bracket contests. They cost nothing to play, award real cash prizes and are open to anyone in the United States.
You simply complete a bracket much as you would for your office pool. The play-in “first four” games aren’t considered, so you fill in winners from the Round of 64 on down to the championship, 63 games in all. Later-round picks are weighted more heavily, and whichever player finishes with the most points earns the win.
DraftKings bracket challenges
In past seasons, DraftKings Sportsbook did something different with its Zero Right Bracket Challenge. It’s the opposite as trying to get a perfect bracket. Every correct pick you make earns you a point, but that’s not a good thing. The goal is to be as close to zero points as possible. At the end, the player whose bracket is closest to zero points wins $100,000.
If a more traditional bracket challenge is more your speed, DraftKings featured a free NCAA bracket contest offering $64,000 in prizes in previous years. The most recent version paid $5,000 to the first-place finisher and rewarded the top 6,475 places. For those whose brackets busted early, DraftKings also offered a free second-chance bracket contest with $16,000 in prizes. This game began with the Sweet 16 and required picks for each game through the championship for a shot at the cash.
In past seasons, DraftKings has also offered a $250,000 March Madness Survivor Pool. This involves picking one winner each day of the tournament through the Sweet 16 (six days total). Then, starting with the Elite Eight, you pick one team per round. Like other survivor pools, you can’t pick the same team twice, which can get tricky as, obviously, the number of teams left decreases each round. Those who survive the longest split the $250K prize.
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FanDuel bracket challenges
FanDuel Sportsbook held its free-to-play $250,000 Bracket Madness contest in past seasons. The winner pocketed $100,000, the runner-up $50,000, and the top 1,000 finishers earned cash prizes.
Generally speaking, most operators will typically have some sort of real-money bracket contest. For these, you’ll need to submit your entries after the drawing on Sunday night but before the first-round games tip off Thursday. You will also need to be physically located in New Jersey.
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Pros & cons of betting brackets vs. single games
Many college basketball fans are used to filling out their brackets every March. That said, some bettors prefer to wager on individual games. Certainly, there are pros and cons to wagering on brackets. Some of the pros include:
- Chance to win a huge payout for a small entry fee (or none at all).
- Opportunity to build interest in every single game without having to wager on each one individually.
- A version of betting on “futures” without having to wait months for a bet to settle.
On the flip side, some of the cons include:
- Possibility of too many incorrect picks busting your bracket early.
- High degree of difficulty picking later rounds without knowing exact matchups.
- Lottery-like aspect of having to wager what is essentially an enormous parlay.
Betting March Madness single games and props
There are many ways to wager on individual games during the three weeks of March Madness. Here are a few of the common types of wagers with every legal operator.
Moneyline
The simplest way to bet a March Madness game is to place a moneyline wager. That’s a “straight-up” pick on one team to win.
For moneyline wagers, you’ll see odds listed as positive or negative numbers. For example, at PointsBet Sportsbook New York the listing might look like this: “Buffalo (+190)” or “Arizona State (-240).”
Those numbers reflect what the payouts are for winning bets while indicating which team is favored in the matchup and which is the underdog. In the above example, Arizona State is the favorite, meaning a bettor would have to bet $240 to profit $100. Meanwhile, a $100 wager on underdog Buffalo would profit $190 if the Bulls pulled off the upset.
Point spreads
Wagering on the point spread means “giving” points when selecting the favorite and “taking” points when going with the underdog.
In the above example, Arizona State entered as a 5.5-point favorite, meaning a point spread bet on “Arizona State -5.5” would only pay out if the Sun Devils won by six points or more. A wager on “Buffalo +5.5” would win if the team upset Arizona State or lost by no more than five points.
These wagers also have odds written as “-110” or similar to reflect what a winning bet pays.
Totals
You can also pick the “over/under” line on the total number of points both teams will score in the game. The over/under for March Madness games can vary widely, from the high 110s to the low 160s.
Prop bets
Besides wagering on the outcome of a game, you can also select proposition bets (or “props”) surrounding particular teams. But what are props? Simply stated, these markets typically concern results within the game rather than the game’s outcome. As a reminder, New York does not allow prop wagering when it comes to indivdual college athlete performances (in addition to any bets on in-state teams). You’ll need to stick to game-focused props.
For example, you could wager on if Duke or North Carolina will reach 10 points first. Or you could wager on the Blue Devils as a team to finish with over or under 48.5 rebounds.
There are many types of prop wagers you can make, such as picking a team to score the first basket. Final Four games usually feature a huge variety of these opportunities, so keep an eye out for those team props.
Live wagering
Speaking of alternative types of wagering, live wagering or “in game” wagering, is another popular March Madness selection.
Live wagering involves placing all sorts of selections — moneyline, point spreads, totals, props — as the game is in progress, with odds constantly adjusting with every play.
One important note to keep in mind: while you can wager on college hoops in NY, wagering on in-state teams or on events taking place within the borders is prohibited. That’s a slight bummer, but the good news is that there are plenty of other games to choose from. Especially during the NCAA Tournament.
Which New York teams are eligible for March Madness?
There are nearly two dozen NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs in New York. Almost all of them have participated in March Madness before. They include:
| Team | Appearances (most recent) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Albany Great Danes | 5 (2015) | |
| Army Black Knights | 0 | |
| Binghamton Bearcats | 1 (2009) | |
| Buffalo Bulls | 4 (2019) | |
| Canisius Golden Griffins | 4 (1996) | Elite Eight (1956) |
| Colgate Raiders | 7 (2024) | |
| Columbia Lions | 3 (1968) | Elite Eight (1948) |
| Cornell Big Red | 5 (2010) | Sweet 16 (1954, 2010) |
| Fordham Rams | 4 (1992) | Sweet 16 (1971) |
| Hofstra Pride | 4 (2001) | |
| Iona Gaels | 16 (2023) | |
| Long Island University Sharks | 8 (2026) | |
| Manhattan Jaspers | 8 (2015) | Sweet 16 (1958) |
| Marist Red Foxes | 2 (1987) | |
| Niagara Purple Eagles | 3 (2007) | Sweet 16 (1970) |
| Siena Saints | 6 (2010) | |
| St. Bonaventure Bonnies | 8 (2021) | Final Four (1970) |
| St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers | 0 | |
| St. John’s Red Storm | 31 (2025) | Runner-up (1952) |
| Stony Brook Seawolves | 1 (2016) | |
| Syracuse Orange | 41 (2021) | National champ (2003) |
| Wagner Seahawks | 2 (2024) |
From this list only Army and St. Francis have never played in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, two of four programs to have never appeared in the tourney. Syracuse is the only current Division I program from New York with an NCAA title (2003).
One other New York school won the tournament before, City College of New York in 1950. In fact, CCNY won both the NCAA and NIT tournaments that year, the only school ever to have performed that feat.
As a quick reminder, remember that you won’t be able to wager on NY college hoops teams, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t root them on. Non-NY teams, though, are fair game to wager on this March Madness.
Get ready for March Madness betting in NY
With Selection Sunday getting closer and closer, it’s a good reminder to stay on top of college basketball. Keep an eye on teams that win their conference tournaments and which enter the NCAA Tournament riding the most momentum. Brush up on some historical trends as well, so you’re fully prepared for March Madness betting in NY.
March Madness Betting FAQ
The 2026 Final Four will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The national Championship will take place there as well on April 6.
The KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY, will host first- and second-round games in 2026.
All of the games will be aired on CBS as well as on the Turner family of networks: TBS, TNT and TruTV.
Games will also stream online at cbssports.com. And on top of that, fans can watch the action via the March Madness Live app available for iOS and Android devices.
No, you cannot wager on in-state college teams or events in NY. However, that changes when you head to New Jersey, which has a similar rule in place but specific to the Garden State. New York teams and events are available to wager on in NJ.
