Putting money on March Madness brackets may make fans go a little bit madder, experts say.
Betting on the games can reduce enjoyment for spectators, said Yong Jae Ko, a UF associate professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management.
The NCAA Tournament is one of the most popular tournaments in the sports gambling industry, he said. Many people create brackets that predict the matchup for each tournament game, the overall winner and the final score.
But Ko said there is a difference between fans who watch for fun and fans who watch for competition.
“When you increase your betting money, the enjoyment, fun aspect decreases,” Ko said.
Making brackets can lead fans to focus on the competition aspect rather than relaxing and enjoying the game, he said. He recommended that students separate these dimensions while watching the Gators.
Jonathan Arnholz, a 20-year-old UF public relations sophomore, is the vice president of the Men’s Basketball Rowdies. He said that bracket expectations have already lowered with the first two rounds of highly unpredictable outcomes and upsets, so most are just participating for fun and hoping that their friends’ brackets are worse than their own.
“Everybody’s expecting their bracket to get busted,” he said.
Caitlin McVeigh, a 21-year-old UF accounting junior, makes a bracket annually to bet against her brother. Betting low amounts of money still allows her to enjoy the games, McVeigh said.
“I’m very risk-averse, so the more money, the more scared I would be,” she said.
Ko said he is more interested in watching the games with his friends and family.
“Sport consumption is a social function, so winning and losing is not everything,” he said. “It’s all about the memories.”
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 3/28/2014 under the headline "Brackets take fun out of game"]
