For nine years running, Bloomberg has been spurring action on the basketball court and the charity front alike with its annual March Madness Brackets for a Cause initiative. As March Madness engulfs the nation again this year, this unique event turns the popular pastime of bracket predictions into a high-stakes philanthropic effort.
This year, the business media and financial conglomerate — Bloomberg — invited a select group of titans from Wall Street as well as other United States leaders to step up to the challenge. Each participant contributes $20,000 to the charity pool and in return gets a chance to ink their predictions for both men’s and women’s college basketball tournament brackets.
But the game isn’t solely about guessing right. It’s a feat that galvanizes hundreds of thousands of dollars into a pool of hope for deserving charitable causes. The participants aren’t playing for their pocketbooks, but rather for the charities of their choice. The three top-scoring bracket-fillers in each division get to split a prize pool that has swelled to over a million dollars, channeling these funds to their designated nonprofits.
Interest in this year’s Brackets for a Cause has been robust, drawing 58 participants and swelling the charitable pot to an impressive $1.16 million.
A curious development has emerged on the women’s bracket front. Every participant is proposing a faceoff between the top-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four, foreshadowing a possibly unanimous and nail-biting culmination.
The South Carolina university boasts an unbeaten 32-0 record this season, positioning them, thus far, as the nation’s top women’s basketball team. Not far behind in terms of media curiosity and fan support are the Hawkeyes, primarily owing to Caitlin Clark’s historic season.
While the payout from this unusual uniformity in picks remains unseen, what is clear is that 40 of the participants envision the Gamecocks clinching victory. Oddsmakers echo this public sentiment, bestowing upon South Carolina the mantle of a heavy favorite to clinch the national championship.
On the flip side, men’s predictions are wildly in favor of the University of Connecticut Huskies. Nearly half the participants have betted on the Huskies’ chances of repeating last year’s success of seizing the championship title.
Last year’s triumphant participant was Bain Capital’s Stephen Pagliuca, who co-owns NBA’s Boston Celtics. Pagliuca elected to contribute his winnings to the Reform Alliance. Second and third place went to York Capital Management CEO Jamie Dinan and MeydenVest Partners Founder and CEO Michelle Seitz, who donated their proceedings to the Museum of the City of New York and Educate Girls, respectively.
Whether guessing tournament outcomes is a science or a gamble, one thing is constant – the noble cause that this game serves. While appreciating the March Madness championship, Bloomberg has woven a heartening narrative of generosity, hope, and commitment. Each year, it continues to underscore the central importance of charity and community service, even while celebrating the thrills and spills of college basketball.
