Market Madness
Overview
This leaderboard-style trading game simulates a futures market on how far each team advances in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Each of the 68 teams is listed as a separate contract, with settlement determined by the round in which that team is eliminated.
Participants can take long or short positions in any team and trade throughout the tournament. Final P&L is determined by the settlement value of each team’s contract relative to the trade price.
At the conclusion of the tournament, participants are ranked by total P&L, and the top 3 will receive prizes.
This game tests probability estimation, risk management, and real-time reaction to new information as the bracket unfolds
Contract Specs
Settlement Price
64 for champion
32 for runner up
16 for losing in the Final 4 Round
8 for losing in the Elite 8 Round
4 for losing in the Sweet 16 Round
2 for losing in the Second Round
0 for losing in the First Round
0 for losing in the First Four
Details
Register at https://games.drw.com/games/trading-simulator/160 using your email address and a password, then enter the access code DRWMarchMadness26! to join the game. You’ll use the same credentials each time you log in.
If you previously registered for a game, simply sign up again with your existing email and password and enter the new registration code.
Upon completion of the 2026 NCAA Men’s tournament, April 6, 2026
- This game is Leaderboard style: The top 3 participants – ranked by P&L – will receive a prize.
- Tradeable prices: 0 to 64
- Max position size per product = 100
- Fair play rule: To maintain a fair and competitive environment, wash trading is not permitted. Wash trading involves coordinating to simultaneously buy and sell the same contract to create artificial activity without genuine market risk. Accounts engaging in this behavior may be restricted or removed.
- -500,000 (If your P&L dips below -500,000, you can only enter orders that reduce your current position.)
- Game P&L = sum of the P&L’s of all 68 contracts
If at the end of the Tournament, suppose that Duke lost in the first round, Illinois advanced to the Final Four, and Michigan State beat Michigan in the finals, then the settlements for those teams would be as follows: Duke = 0, Illinois = 16, Michigan = 32, Michigan State = 64
Implementing Trading Strategies via APIs
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