Texas Among States with Most Interest in Super Mario Franchise

To celebrate Mar10 Day, aka “Mario Day,” on March 10, BetTexas.com decided to take a break from Texas sports betting to honor our favorite pudgy Italian plumber and his enduring popularity.

Although it’s been 38 years since the very first Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the beloved video game franchise is still incredibly popular among residents of the Lone Star State.

How do we know? BetTexas.com used Google Trends to find the search volume for “Super Mario Bros.” in each of the U.S. states, and Texas ranked seven on our list.

States With The Most Interest in Mario

RankState
1Illinois
2Utah
3Arizona
4California
5New Jersey
6Washington
7Texas
8Indiana
9Ohio
10Massachusetts

Fan Following

Simply put, Mar10 Day is Mario Day! Since the abbreviated form of “March 10” closely resembles the name “MARIO” when spelt out, fans have seized upon the date to create a de-facto holiday. Similarly, Star Wars fans have claimed May 4 as their day because when said aloud, “May the fourth” sounds very similar to the beginning of the famous Jedi salute, “May the force be with you.”

Mar10 Day is a great excuse for super fans to don a fake moustache and suspenders, or organize an evening of Mario Kart with friends.

While Mar10 Day began as a fan-centric celebration of the Super Mario Bros. universe, beginning in 2016 Nintendo has gotten in on the action by running promos and offering deals on Mario games, merchandise and more.

This year, Nintendo has a number of deals running throughout the month of March, including a Nintendo Switch bundle and a Mario Kart 8 expansion pack that includes eight new race tracks.

While Nintendo hasn’t released a standalone Super Mario Bros. game since 2017, there are rumors of a new release coming sometime this year.

In late-2022, a popular Nintendo blogger wrote about a new 2D-style side-scroller Mario game for the Nintendo Switch, which is supposedly nearing the end of its development cycle.

The notoriously tight-lipped gaming studio has yet to announce any details, but it’s possible that Nintendo is waiting until after the premiere of their next big project — the long awaited Super Mario Bros. movie.

Mark Your Calendars

When the trailer for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was released last year, the Internet had a good laugh at Chris Pratt’s embarrassing Mario voice — but don’t expect that to put a damper on what is shaping up to be 2023’s biggest box office hit.

To bring Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom to life, Nintendo enlisted the help of Illumination, the celebrated animation studio responsible for the "Despicable Me" franchise.

Set for an April 5 release date, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” looks like a visual delight, chock-full of easter eggs from the video games, sure to please hardcore Mario fans.

The only real question is, why not release it on Mar10 Day?

When everything goes live in The Lone Star State, check back with us for a breakdown of the best Texas sportsbook promos

Author

Jeff Parker is an entertainment writer for BetTexas.com. A writer for film, television and the internet, Jeff is a life long movie buff, with a Masters Degree in Popular Culture. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he works full time as documentary filmmaker and producer.

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