Right now, the Harvard basketball program is receiving plenty of national attention. The team has been mentioned more times on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” this year than at any point in recent memory. A number of factors contribute to this phenomenon, including a top-25 ranking for part of the season as well as an NCAA berth. The “LINsanity” coverage has also garnered more interest for Harvard at the sports books.
This increased media coverage of the Harvard basketball team has resulted in what Kornegay describes as a “minimal” spike in public betting on Ivy League games. Television might prolong this rise because it will allow casual gamblers to form an opinion on, and thus perhaps vest interest in, Ancient Eight games.
Van Patten agrees that television coverage plays a critical role in generating gambling interest.
“A game being on TV is always going to affect the handle on the sport,” Van Patten says. “People like to bet on what they can watch. They might not have a huge opinion on the game…but they might bet on the game just because it’s on TV and they can sit and root for it.”
Pretty soon, the gambling public may further invade the realm of Ivy League betting, a territory currently dominated by a small group of more serious bettors. If Harvard continues to play at a top-25 level, the Crimson will play more games on television in front of a national audience.
This past year, for example, Harvard played its first showcased game on ESPN2, on Dec. 8, when the team lost to the University of Connecticut on Dec. 8. What’s more, the Crimson’s games against Boston College on Dec. 29 and Princeton on Feb. 11 were televised on ESPN3. A part of this spike in coverage can be attributed to the 2009 election of Robin Harris as head of the Ivy League athletic conference. In her brief tenure, Harris has spearheaded an effort to put more Ivy League games on television.
It is not unprecedented for the public perceptions of a conference to change in Vegas. According to Kornegay, George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University have altered how casual bettors view the Colonial Athletic Conference.
In 2006, George Mason advanced to the Final Four as a No.11 seed. The team’s success prompted national interest in the little-known Colonial Athletic Conference. Five years later, Virginia Commonwealth, also an 11 seed, made a run of its own to the Final Four.
Even though neither team won its Final Four game, both collected respect for the league. Consequently, according to Kornegay, more gamblers are placing bets on the CAA because they are more familiar with the conference.
Harvard could make a similar impact on the Ivy League if it can make a deep run in the tournament and play at a consistent level.
If that happens, then more people might think of placing a Friday night bet when they hear the words “Ivy League.”