As March Madness kicks off this week, a spirited debate has resurfaced regarding the origins of the first betting pool for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. This annual tournament, which captivates millions across the nation, sees both Jody's Club Forest on Staten Island and a Kentucky postal worker claiming to be the true originators of the ubiquitous brackets.
Located in the Wet Brighton neighborhood of Staten Island, Jody's Club Forest asserts that it was the birthplace of the tournament brackets now filled out by countless fans. Terence Haggerty, the bar's owner, proudly points to his father, Joseph "Jody" Haggerty, as the innovator behind this thriving tradition. According to Haggerty, his father created the first tournament brackets in 1977.
"They were just hanging out one day and he was a creative guy," Haggerty told ABC News. "And he would like to come up with some things to add business." Joseph Haggerty, a former high school basketball coach, opened Jody's Club Forest with his wife, Mary, in 1976. The first-ever tournament brackets reportedly attracted 88 customers who each paid $10 to participate.
Over the years, the popularity of the brackets soared. By 2006, when Jody's Club Forest last hosted the event, the jackpot had escalated to a staggering $1.6 million. Haggerty reminisced about the extensive reach of the contest, noting that even local politicians and soldiers stationed overseas entered brackets during the Iraq War. "When the war was going on in Iraq, there were tickets being sent to Iraq," he recounted.
However, not everyone agrees with Haggerty's claim to the title of bracket inventor. Damon Stinson believes that his late father, postal worker Bob Stinson, actually pioneered the NCAA basketball tournament brackets in 1978. According to Damon, his father drew inspiration from his recreational softball league to create a format for filling out tournament brackets.
"My dad just thought it would be fun to fill out the brackets," Damon Stinson shared. "It was kind of a betting thing but not really. It was kind of a who-knows-college-basketball-better kind of thing." This friendly competition blossomed into a widespread phenomenon that has people across the country gearing up for March Madness each year.
The NCAA tournament, which showcases 68 college basketball teams, officially begins on Tuesday evening, March 18, 2025. That night, Pennsylvania's Saint Francis will tip off against Alabama State in Dayton, Ohio. As always, excitement surges among fans as they anticipate a thrilling tournament ahead.
The defending champions, the University of Connecticut Huskies, are set to play the University of Oklahoma on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina. The team enters the tournament seeded eighth in the West Region bracket, while top seeds include notable schools such as Auburn University, Duke University, the University of Houston, and the University of Florida.
As fans prepare for the exhilarating journey ahead, this year’s tournament promises to capture the essence of college basketball and engage millions as they fill out their brackets and join the age-old debate of who truly invented them. The culmination of all this excitement will occur during the national championship game slated for April 7 in San Antonio, Texas.
