After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down March Madness in 2020, many people are excited for the 2021 NCAA Basketball tournament kicking off this weekend. Sports fans, sports bettors and advertisers are among the parties ready for games to take place.

Here's a look at some publicly traded companies that are ready for March Madness to begin.

CBS: This could be a strong year for ViacomCBS Inc (VIAC), the host of both the Super Bowl and games from March Madness. CBS could see March Madness advertising revenue. The company told reporters last week that the ads were “virtually sold out.”

Eighty percent of linear advertisers will also have a digital advertising presence. Around 90% of last year’s planned advertisers are airing ads this year after last year’s canceled tournament.

Over 100 advertisers are signed between CBS and its partner Turner Sports. The top five advertiser categories are insurance, automotive, financials, telecommunications and restaurants.

CBS has coverage of games in each round and has the exclusive coverage of the Final Four and Championship games.

AT&T: Turner Sports, a segment of AT&T (T), has rights to March Madness games along with CBS. Games will be aired on the TBS and truTV channels. These channels will have the rights to all of the Play-In games on Thursday night.

Games will air on TBS, truTV and TNT on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Turner will have coverage of games in the first four rounds.

Sports Betting Companies: In 2019, only seven states had legal sports betting for the March Madness tournament. Adults in 20 states and Washington, D.C. will be able to bet on sports for March Madness in 2021. Over 86 million people will be able to place wagers compared to 26 million in 2019.

In 2021, Play USA estimates between $1 billion and $1.5 billion could be wagered on March Madness. While the Super Bowl is the most bet on game of the year, the combination of more than 60 games makes March Madness the largest bet sporting event.

“The 2021 NCAA Tournament will be the most widely bet-on sporting event in U.S. history," said PlayUSA.com analyst Eric Ramsey.

The predictions for the total amount are hard given the increased number of states to legalize; no numbers from 2020 for comparison purposes; and the continued pandemic hitting retail sportsbooks, Ramsey said.

With the huge predictions set for sports betting on March Madness, the stocks to watch include DraftKings Inc (DKNG), Penn National Gaming Inc (PENN), MGM Resorts International (MGM), Rush Street Interactive (RSI) and Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc (GNOG).

Genius Sports: Set to go public in a SPAC merger with dMY Technology Inc II (DMYT) DMYD 3.3%, Genius Sports provides data to sports betting partners.

Genius Sports has a 10-year exclusive deal with the NCAA that includes coverage of Men’s Basketball. Under the deal signed in 2018, no party other than Genius Sports is allowed to collect data at NCAA events for commercial exploitation.

Photo by Todd Greene on Unsplash