UCONN celebrates after winning the March Madness championship game. Courtesy | CNN

Americans proved they still love March Madness more than the NBA finals, as 18.1 million people tuned into the 2023 championship game, compared to the peak 16.8 million who tuned into the 2022 NBA Finals, according to SportsPro Media.

The reason March Madness tops the NBA finals is twofold: (1) during March Madness, fans can actively participate and invest in the tournament rather than just watch, and (2) March Madness games are unpredictable as every tournament brings major upsets.

Even the women’s NCAA tournament — whose viewership went up 42% per The Athletic — enjoyed strong numbers, including a peak of 12.6 million viewers for the final, 10 times higher than the most viewed game in WNBA history. That championship now ranks as one of the most-watched women’s sports events, with more than half the American viewership of the women’s World Cup.

The NBA Finals, while entertaining, feature long series that ensure the No.1 seed a consistent path to victory. Fans looking for the best team to win will be satisfied, but fans hoping for an upset are likely to be disappointed, considering the No.1 seed has won the NBA Finals more than 72% of the time.

Fans primarily participate by making March Madness brackets. This year, the ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge received over 20 million brackets—all of which busted by the second day of the tournament. Those brackets make March Madness the cultural phenomenon it is.

Fans do not just make brackets for March Madness, either. They invest in them. One in five adults made a bet on the 2019 NCAA men’s tournament, according to the American Gambling Association. That year, fans bet a total of $8.5 billion on different game results.

However, brackets and gambling would not be as exciting without the classic March Madness upsets. The 2023 tournament had even more upsets than usual, such as when the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights became only the second No.16 seed to beat a No.1 seed after their victory over the Purdue Boilermakers. And this year’s Elite Eight was the first without a single No.1 seed.

People love the chance to share in the wins and losses of each matchup, and people love the chaos of frequent upsets enabled by a single-elimination tournament.

Professional basketball may have better players, bigger stars, and larger prizes, but they do not have the chaotic magic and appeal of March Madness, which is why March Madness continues to be the greatest and most popular basketball event in the United States.