People watch NCAA college basketball tournament games during March Madness at Circa Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Thursday, March 21, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Management at the South Point last March moved its annual NCAA Tournament viewing party from its usual 20,000 square-foot space to a venue four times that size, offering guests a unique experience to watch and bet on the action at the resort’s “Most Massive Madness Party in Las Vegas.”
And this year, South Point has even grander plans for its iteration of the party, with a dozen 20-foot screens casting the college basketball games, 10 betting stations, food and beverage options and more.
“We think last year was great,” said Ryan Growney, general manager at South Point. “We think this year will be better.”
South Point is one of several Las Vegas properties pulling out all the stops for March Madness, which brings tens of thousands of people to town for four days of basketball viewing starting today.
The Entertainment Capital of the World is a popular choice for people hoping to watch and wager on every game of the tournament, a distinction bolstered last year when the city also hosted its first-ever March Madness game.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s summary of monthly tourism indicators for 2023, more than 3.6 million people visited Las Vegas in March of last year, although there’s no indication what events may have driven that visitation.
“March Madness basketball is in the DNA of Las Vegas,” said Nancy Lough, co-director of UNLV Sports Innovation. “Everyone has known for decades that this is a major destination during the month of March for fans of college basketball, and now it’s a destination for fans of women’s college basketball, as well.”
No other city can compete with Las Vegas and its number of hotel rooms, entertainment offerings and so on, Lough said, when it comes to giving visitors a “phenomenal” March Madness experience.
And even as sports betting becomes increasingly legal elsewhere, she said, other places just don’t have sportsbooks in the same volume or of the same quality as Las Vegas. Those here allow bettors to watch multiple games at once, she said, and experience them socially with others.
“To try to mimic that as another city — it’s just not possible,” Lough said. “There’s not another city that can mimic what Las Vegas has to offer. And, quite honestly, it’s the place where you come if you are serious about your betting on March Madness. This is where the best opportunities are to really stay in the know.”
Las Vegas is the kind of destination where people, maybe old friends, can reunite for an event like March Madness, said David Schwartz, UNLV ombuds and affiliate professor in the history department.
“It gives people another reason why they could come to Vegas,” he said of the effect of Las Vegas’ growing sports footprint. “Whereas, maybe 40 years ago, it was mostly to gamble.”
Mike Palm, vice president of operations for the D, Golden Gate and Circa, added that Nevada has the most established sports-betting operations in the U.S., having had a monopoly on it for so long, and its properties are therefore well equipped to operate March Madness viewing parties and the bets they produce.
“In terms of ranking our gaming weekends, the first weekend of March Madness now surpasses Super Bowl,” he said, noting there are free viewing parties for the event at the D and the Circa, and the latter’s Stadium Swim venue and its sportsbook see strong demand during the tournament. “It’s a very good gaming weekend. Our hotel rates are very high.”
South Point sells out its viewing party for March Madness every year, Growney said, which he attributes to the fact that watching the tournament from Las Vegas has become a staple that many fans of basketball won’t miss.
The special part of March Madness is that even though everyone in the room isn’t cheering for the same team, he said, they’re all cheering for college basketball.
“It’s just this onslaught on the senses just from that first tip to the last buzzer sounds each day,” Growney said. “And it’s just everybody’s in a good mood. There’s no politics, it’s just college basketball. And these are dedicated fans that are coming out to watch, and it’s just an exciting place to be and … with the 2,500 people in the room, there’s a level of electricity there that’s hard to replicate.”
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