It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the NCAA men's basketball tournament is big business, but you may not have realized that it is literally a billion dollar business.

The personal finance website Wallet Hub has released its report on the extraordinary money side of March Madness - and the results are a bit shocking.

It all starts with the $2000 + price tag to attend all three games of the final four. Who can afford that - really. Of course, there is $100 million in profits at Vegas Casinos from March Madness. Millions of dollars in profits for the casinos naturally means millions of dollars lost by bettors.

Thanks to cable TV, every NCAA tournament game is broadcast - and those broadcasts don't come cheap.  CBS/Turner Broadcasting has shelled out $10.8 billion for the TV rights to the tournament from 2011-2024.

Oh, and for those of us watching the games on TV, we are contributing to the madness as well with our pizza orders. Wallet Hub says orders of pizza go up 19% after losses vs wins.

And then there is this little factoid. They tell us that it is two times easier to win back-to-back Mega Million lotteries than it is to fill out a perfect bracket. Still, we try because there is a chance.

So enjoy the billion dollar madness --and be sure and get  your bracket ready for Thursday's tip-off.

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