Indiana NCAA Bracket Contest Laws

Hoosiers didn't invent basketball, but their passion for the sport is legendary. Residents of Indiana didn't come up with the idea to have March Madness bracket contests for the NCAA tournament, either. While the state's gambling laws would consider most bracket pools illegal, that hasn't stopped people from filling out their brackets each year and competing against friends, family members and co-workers.

  1. Brackets Defined

    • Each March, basketball teams from NCAA Division I schools compete in conference tournaments. The winners of these smaller events, as well as the teams with the best season-long credentials, are selected to participate in the NCAA tournament. A committee seeds all teams according to their strengths and assigns opponents and game locations. The resulting schedule becomes a bracket, with the winners advancing to the next round until a champion emerges. Millions of Americans predict the winners of all games each year, and almost all will enter some sort of competition to see who can pick the most games correctly.

    Gambling Law

    • Indiana Code 35-45-5 establishes the state's gambling regulations. Generally, gambling occurs when a Hoosier risks money or property for the potential of gain based on a game of chance. The state regulates a lottery, casinos and betting on horse races; unregulated activities would include NCAA bracket pools, for which the state collects no revenue or taxes on winnings.

    Official Contests

    • The Indiana Gaming Commission licenses organizations wanting to conduct public contests like NCAA bracket pools. Nonprofit organizations, media outlets or other public entities may register with the IGC for a permit to conduct a game for prizes. In such cases, an individual's winnings may be subject to taxation. Government oversight also ensures the contest will be conducted without corrupt or illegal activity.

    Penalties and Prosecution

    • In Indiana, a participant in an NCAA pool may be subject to a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by no more than six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. If the operator of the pool uses the Internet to promote or run the contest, the penalty is a Class D felony with a chance of up to three years in prison. A previous conviction may bump the penalty to a Class C felony, with four to 10 years in prison a possibility. However, prosecutors recognize the popularity and prevalence of NCAA pools, and unless corruption or organized crime is suspected, rarely will any case be filed charging an Indiana resident with a violation for participating in March Madness.