To ensure your success, here’s a breakdown on how PayPerHead agents can make the most of the NCAA basketball 2019 betting season.
For private independent bookies, the fall is one of the busiest times of the sports betting year. With NFL and college football in full swing, the start of the NCAA basketball 2019 season really presents an excellent opportunity for making money.
Anyone who has spent time managing a private sportsbook operation long enough is well aware of how fast things move and change.
Football alone will likely be your big moneymaker, but all major sports in season present unique opportunities for profit. If you are just a football bookie you should consider expanding your offering to best meet your long-term financial goals. College basketball, specifically, offers excellent returns from November to March with dozens of quality games each and every week.
The regular NCAA season finally tips off on November 5th 2019 at Madison Square Garden for the playing of the 2k Sports Classic. We get non-stop action from that day forward until the season culminates with the Final Four in Atlanta on April 6th, 2020. This allows you, bookies and bettors, alike, five full months of games to try and profit from.
With 347 Divison 1 teams, each of which playing around 30 games a season, there are more than 10,000 games to look forward to in the coming months. This may seem like a large undertaking for a new NCAAB bookie, but with the right information and a proper strategy, CBB can be your biggest moneymaker in 2019.
Before we get too deep into the intricacies of booking college baskets, let’s review some rule changes that could drastically affect the upcoming season.
Rule Changes for the 2019-20 NCAA Basketball Season
After much deliberating, and some real-world testing last season, the NCAA has finally decided to adjust the 3-point arc for the 2019 season. The line will be moved from 20’9” to 22’2”, which brings it right in line with the agreed-upon distance used by The International Basketball Federation for worldwide competition, including the NBA.
This is the first time the arc has seen an adjustment since 2008 when the 20’9” distance was enacted. The NCAA ran successful tests last year in the NIT, supported by both players and coaches alike.
According to league sources, this move will benefit the game for a number of reasons. First off, it encourages players to drive more to the basket in the hopes of making for a more exciting overall product. Secondly, this will curtail teams who lean too heavily on just hucking up long balls for 40 minutes straight which creates a dull viewing experience.
Essentially, the powers that be are aiming to make the shot more challenging while also maintaining its overall impact on creating a winning strategy.
As for how this will affect the NCAA league in 2019?
Well, last season in D1 college hoops, just five teams shot for better than 40% from beyond the arc; Lehigh (42.4%), Wofford (41,6%), South Dakota State (41.0%), Virginia (40.9%) and Fairleigh Dickenson (40.4%. With the distance change, we might not see any team hit that mark in 2019-20. On top of that, just two players, Marcus Hammond (52.2) and Derrik Jamerson Jr (51.2%) shot for better than half from beyond the three-point line.
Expect this to create a temporary drop in 3 point percentage, a slight dip in overall scoring and struggles for teams that traditionally rely on the long ball. This will serve to open up the court and create a lot more space for post players to do their work down low in the paint.
I expect the players to adjust rather quickly, before the end of the year most likely. But that still leaves a lot of games early in the season that might see some growing pains.
Take this opportunity to explore exploits in the over/under betting market along with scoring props. This adjustment will also make defensive game planning different as teams will be required to cover more of the open space as opposed to just locking down the perimeter.
The second rule change which will impact scoring this season is the resetting of the shot clock to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound. Adjusting the time allotted from 30 to 20 seconds essentially cuts out the time usually given to make half court after a possession change.
The adjustment was also tested in the NIT last year and marks another change that is aimed at creating a more uptempo game. Along with the 3 point adjustment, the shot clock rule has been met with praise from coaches, players, and teams.
Getting Your Clients Ready for Betting NCAAB
Now that we’re caught up with the offseason changes, we can start planning how to grow your clients who gamble on NCAAB.
One of the things that make most people college basketball fans is the weekly chance for massive upsets to occur. College basketball is unique in the fact that such upsets are not only likely but guaranteed to happen a number of times throughout the year. This makes for attractive moneyline underdog opportunities which you can promote to your players.
Whether you use email, text or phone calls, be sure to keep your players well informed of the profits available in such upset alert games. Chasing these types of wins is truly a high risk/high reward venture, but is also a very enjoyable goal for players to reach for.
This all becomes even more relevant, of course, come March Madness when tournament upsets make national news on an annual basis.
Another promotional tool to utilize is to offer incentives for players to start betting on college basketball as early in the season as possible. A way to accomplish this is to offer a “risk-free” bet, as long as that bet is on the opening weekend of college basketball. This allows new bettors to dip their toes into college hoops, keep their earning if they win and recoup their losses should they guess wrong that first game.
Offering clients a rotating variety of promotions, a la the big offshore sportsbook, is a phenomenal tactic for getting new players and keeping happy the ones you currently have. Create contests, offer sign up bonuses or adjusted odds for College Basketball early on. Be creative and watch your player base grow along with your sportsbook profits.
Keep Your Clients Betting
Now that your players are in the door and have enjoyed a taste of college basketball betting, how do you keep them coming back for more?
The idea is to maintain interest throughout a five-month stretch while keeping profits rolling in all winter long. The first tip is to create bespoke NCAAB literature to provide weekly to clients. These can be anything from basic game schedules and odds to betting guides and more.
Get creative. Nobody knows your clients as well as you do so use that information to your benefit.
If you are looking for more information about your bettors, be sure to review the player activity reports which PayPerHead offers. These reports offer a mountain of information for the independent sportsbook to utilize in hopes of offering clients exactly the things they want to bet on. Use these reports to send the right literature to the right players each week.
For example, if you have a guy who has expressed zero interest in CBB it’s probably best to leave him off that mailing list. A player who dabbles a bit would be well served with a weekly update of games to watch for, betting guide, odds breakdown, etc.
A guy who lives to bet on college hoops might appreciate 2-3 messages a week with relevant news and notes based around upcoming games. Saturday morning is your best bet for sending out any weekly NCAAB information but feel free to sprinkle them in throughout the week to qualified players.
The last and most important step in planning for the NCAA 2019 basketball season is to find a Pay Per Head service that can fill all your bookie software needs. Once the season tips off things can get moving very quickly right off the jump.
This requires a provider who not only offers up to date and competitive lines but also live-betting and the backend to ensure 24/7 service. Nothing is worse than software outages on a busy day of games. Using a sub-par sportsbook software provider comes with the risk of outages at peak times, slow or wrong lines and poor customer service support.
If you still aren’t convinced yet head on over to our promotions page and sign up as a PayPerHead agent now and open your personal sportsbook today!
