Bettors Believe That The Answer is "Yes"
Published on March 10th, 2020 6:14 pm ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
The 2020 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (aka "March Madness") is set to take place later this month. With the recent outbreak of Coronavirus, many people are asking the question - will any of the "March Madness" games be played in an empty stadium? After all, in other countries, major sporting events are being played in empty stadiums or even postponed altogether. One example - Italy, where multiple "Serie A" games were played in completely empty stadiums.
Initially, sports books and bettors believed that the chance of this happened was far-fetched, and this was reflected in the betting odds.
Things have changed dramatically over the past couple of hours, however, as the possibility of at least one "March Madness" game being played in an empty stadium has gone from a large underdog to a betting favorite.
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Here is what the odds looked like early on March 10th, 2020:
Will Any 2020 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games be played in a closed stadium?
Yes, +275
No, -400
As you can see, the "Yes" side was a significant underdog.
Just a few short hours later, and the betting odds look like this now:
Yes, -210
No, +155
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This story is developing quickly, as new Coronavirus cases are being reported in the United States on an hourly basis.
Some gamblers clearly believe that at least some of the "March Madness" games will be played in an empty stadium, and they have been hitting the line hard all day.
