Wagering on women’s sports is experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity, according to the latest data provided by global sports betting company OpenBet. The excitement surrounding the NCAA’s Women’s March Madness, boosted by the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’, has marked a sea change for a sport and competition in which the men’s game has historically dominated wagering activity.
This year, the women’s college basketball championship saw record wagers processed through the OpenBet sports betting platform, as South Carolina’s victory over Iowa it clutched the title of most watched national basketball game in five years.
The tournament’s Final Four also attracted an average of 10.8 million views per match, up more than 130% on last year and higher than the men’s game. This upward trend in recognition of women’s sport shows no sign of slowing down.
“The women’s national championship between Iowa and South Carolina was the highest wagered event of the entire tournament,” said Jake Schmidt, MTS Trader at OpenBet.
As interest in women’s basketball skyrockets, OpenBet is strengthening its player props offering to remain competitive and attract more bettors than ever before.
“A constituent and increasing offering of player prop markets is vital to ensuring the popularity of women’s March Madness across the sports betting landscape continues to grow,” Schmidt said.
“With different universities making the tournament each year, I believe this will continue to keep consumers engaged as it is something new each year.”
There also continues to be wider coverage of women’s sports in the US media and on TV than ever before. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, at the age of just 22, has left a lasting impact on women’s basketball as the NCAA’s top scorer and gaining endorsements from the likes of Nike.
“This year, there were multiple high-profile players driving this increase in popularity,” said Schmidt.
“The media highlighted all games including key players such as USC’s Juju Watkins, South Carolina’s coach Dawn Staley and player Kamilla Cardoso, and others from LSU, UConn and Iowa Hawkeyes.”
Another reason for its increase in prominence and wagering activity is down to the length of time women typically spend at college.
“In contrast to the men’s game, female athletes generally choose to remain in college for longer before choosing to participate in the WNBA draft, allowing consumers to get to know them more and build familiarity,” said Schmidt.
OpenBet continues to deliver a robust and reliable betting engine enabling more people than ever to wager on women’s sports with confidence. As this trend continues, the award-winning provider will add further player props and sports to exceed expectations from sports bettors.