MADNESS MULTIPLIED

Frenzy over brackets, bragging rights reaches new heights

The craziness is about to crescendo.

The buzz, bets and bracket-picking bragging around the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship has always been boisterous, but this year, it’s poised to boom more than ever.

“This is one thing that keeps growing more and more,” says David Pemberton, director of specialty games for Caesars Entertainment.

On social media, the tournament frenzy has also expanded.

In the 72 hours since Selection Sunday, there have been more than 135,000 tweets using #MarchMadness, according to Twitter. The NCAA Twitter han- dle — @marchmadness — had 170,000 followers Wednesday evening. At a similar time in 2012, that handle had only about 38,000 followers.

Die-hard fans can dive into the nitty-gritty of team and player details, while the novices can root for a team based on its mascot, its proximity to their hometown or if they know someone who attended that school, says CBS Sports basketball analyst Greg Anthony, who played in the 1990 NCAA tournament as a UNLV point guard.

“The tournament has become an event, much like you’d find with the Olympics,” he says. “There is an element of passion that goes along with this.”

CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV channels will broadcast more than 200 hours of coverage.

The 2013 NCAA tournament averaged 10.7 million viewers per telecast, up 11% from 2012.

On online and mobile platforms, the tournament garnered 49 million live video streams in 2013, up 168% vs. 2012.

In terms of TV ads, the tournament edges out all professional sports leagues in post-season revenue, according to ad tracker Kantar Media.