GAMBLING

About 45 million Americans say they plan to bet on this year’s March Madness college basketball championship tournament, and an increasing percentage will do it in a way that doesn’t include filling out brackets, according to the gambling industry’s national trade group.

In a report released Sunday night, the American Gaming Association predicted that $3.1 billion will be wagered on this year’s tournament, a figure that includes legal bets as well as those placed with illegal bookies or offshore web sites.

The report asserts that more than 17% of American adults will place at least one bet on the tournament.

“There’s no doubt this year will generate the highest legal handle in March Madness history,” said Bill Miller, the association’s president and CEO, referring to the total amount wagered on the tournament.

The college championship tournament is one of sports betting’s biggest events, but it still trails the level of betting seen in football’s Super Bowl. While fewer Americans were expected to place bets on last month’s Super Bowl won by the Los Angeles Rams (31 million), the amount expected to be wagered on the game was $7.6 billion, more than twice the amount forecast for the college basketball tournament, according to the association.

Nearly 21 million Americans say they plan to make bets that do not involve filling out brackets that predict the winner of each game up to and including the eventual champion, which has always been a popular method of betting on the tournament.

But 36.5 million will bet on a bracket in a pool or similar contest; there is some overlap among the two groups.

The report says more than three-quarters of the total amount bet on the tournament will not involve brackets, an increase of 55% from last year.

That is due in large part to the increasing number of states offering legal sports betting. Currently, 30 states plus Washington, D.C., offer it, and there are 29 million more American adults who live in states that have adopted legal sports betting since last year’s March Madness tournament.

Bettors name Gonzaga (17%) as their favorite to win the tournament, followed by Duke (12%), and Kentucky (11%).

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Lewis Hamilton wants to change his name to add his mother’s surname.

The seven-time Formula One champion – full name Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton – plans to include “Larbalestier” as a third middle name.

His father, Anthony, and mother, Carmen, divorced when he was a child.

“I am really proud of my family’s name. My mum’s name is Larbalestier and I am just about to put that in my name,” Hamilton said while preparing for the season’s opening grand prix this weekend in Bahrain.

“I don’t really fully understand the whole idea that when people get married the woman loses her name and I really want my mum’s name to continue on with the Hamilton name.”

The process won’t be done in time for the race this weekend.

“Hopefully soon,” he said. “We are working on it.”

GOLF

LPGA: Top-ranked American and Olympic gold medalist Nelly Korda has a blood clot in her arm and is home seeking treatment.

Korda, the No. 2 player in the women’s world ranking, posted on her social media accounts that she was in Ponte Vedra Beach on Friday for a commercial shoot when her arm felt as though it was swelling following a routine morning workout.

She went to the emergency room as a precaution and was diagnosed with a blood clot. She did not say which arm.

The 23-year-old Korda said she was home getting treatment, will post updates when available and hoped to return soon.

Korda last year emerged as one of the LPGA’s biggest stars when she captured her first major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to reach No. 1 in the world and won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics as one of her five victories.

She ended the year playing the PNC Championship with her father, Petr, a Grand Slam tennis champion who won the 1998 Australian Open.

Korda decided to skip the LPGA Tour’s two-week swing through Asia, which ended Sunday, and was scheduled to play next week at the JTBC Classic near San Diego. The LPGA’s first major of the year, the Chevron Championship at Rancho Mirage in California, starts March 31.

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS

The Maine Sports Hall of Fame is accepting scholarship applications from Maine high school seniors. Each year, the organization gives out five $5,000 scholarships. Interested students can find an application at mshof.com/scholarships. The deadline is April 4. Winners will be announced in early June.