FanDuel is raising the stakes for March Madness betting this year with the introduction of two innovative features designed to give basketball fans more flexibility and control over their wagers during college basketball's biggest tournament.
In what the company claims is an industry first, FanDuel has launched an exclusive multi-round parlay feature that allows bettors to combine selections across different stages of the NCAA tournament into a single wager.
This groundbreaking functionality enables users to:
Bet on teams advancing to specific rounds
Predict regional winners
Pick the overall tournament champion
Combine predictions from different rounds into one parlay
"This marks the first time customers can build parlays that include bets from multiple rounds of the tournament, allowing customers to transform their brackets into bets," FanDuel stated in its announcement.
The feature essentially lets bettors create a wager that mirrors their tournament bracket predictions. For example, customers can now combine a bet on one team reaching the quarterfinals with another team winning the championship, all on the same bet slip.
Complementing the multi-round parlays is FanDuel's new Bet Back Token, which provides customers with a safety net for wagers that aren't panning out.
If a bettor's wager looks unlikely to succeed due to circumstances such as:
A failing parlay leg
A key player injury
A significant deficit late in a game
The token allows them to reclaim their stake in the form of bonus bets, subject to promotional limits. Customers can apply the token up until the final moments of a match, with the refunded amount instantly returned as bonus bets.
The Bet Back Token will be available for use on any college basketball game from March 17 onward.
Karol Corcoran, Senior Vice President and General Manager of FanDuel Sportsbook, emphasized how these new features address common pain points for tournament bettors.
"The March tournaments offer a full month of high stakes college basketball, and while fans' brackets may be busted after a round or two of tournament games, their bets no longer have to be with the Bet Back Token," Corcoran said. "Combined with our unique multi-round parlay feature, this year we are offering our customers unparalleled flexibility, reinforcing FanDuel's position as the best sportsbook to bet their bracket."
The timing of these enhancements aligns with projections of significant betting activity during March Madness. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), Americans are expected to wager approximately $3.1 billion on the men's and women's NCAA tournaments this year, up from $2.7 billion in 2024.
These new features continue FanDuel's recent trend of platform innovations. Last month, the company partnered with "Are You Watching This?!" to integrate real-time sports excitement alerts into the FanDuel Sports Network, notifying users about significant game moments.
While FanDuel is promoting its exclusive tournament parlay feature, the March Madness betting landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. Prediction market operator Kalshi recently announced it will offer event contracts for NCAA conference tournaments, potentially expanding to individual game contracts during March Madness.
For basketball fans looking to engage with the tournament beyond traditional bracket pools, FanDuel's new features provide additional ways to put their basketball knowledge to the test throughout the entire tournament, even if their brackets get busted early.