The NCAA Tournament kicks off TONIGHT. 

Here’s everything you DON’T need to know to enjoy the action… It’s March Madness By the Numbers:

1.  $16.3 Billion:  Corporate losses due to unproductive workers during March Madness.

2.  37%:  Percentage of Americans willing to call in sick or skip work to watch games.

2.  $1.14 billion:  The annual revenue of the NCAA in 2022. 

3.  ZERO DOLLARS:  What players are paid for participating in the tournament.

4.  12+:  Number of college basketball programs involved on corruption cases involving payments to players since 2017.

5.  $10.2 million:  Salary of Kansas’ Bill Self, college basketball’s highest paid coach.  FYI, the school’s chancellor and the governor of Kentucky make a combined $710,700.

6.  $334.2 Million:  Estimated value of Kentucky’s basketball program, which is the highest among all schools.  It generates $22 million in revenue.

7.  47x:  The difference between the average NBA rookie’s salary of $3.4 million, and a Division 1 men’s basketball scholarship for a year, which is $71,400.

8.  $10 billion+:  Amount wagered on the 2023 tournament.

9.  $4 billion+:  Amount wagered ILLEGALLY.

10.  80 million:  Number of Tournament brackets completed . . . more than half the 156 million ballots cast in the 2020 election.

11.  One in 9.2 Quintillion:  Odds of filling out a perfect ballot.

12.  19%:  Increase in beer sales during March Madness.  Chicken wing sales go up 23%, with fans consuming 2.3 billion wing portions.  

Check out a whole lot more at WalletHub.com.