One Tuesday morning in late February, a fan in New York who logged into FanDuel’s online sportsbook would have found 33 men’s college basketball games listed to bet on and zero women’s games. That fan could place an online wager on some mid-major men’s contests, but no odds were listed for women’s games involving power conference programs like Arizona vs. Texas Tech or Iowa State vs. UCF.
The following day wasn’t much different, FanDuel posted odds on 49 men’s college basketball games for New York state bettors, compared to only seven women’s games. There was a 50-11 discrepancy on another day. You can guess which sport had more betting markets.
Now it’s March, and the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament begins later this week. March and April are the sport’s shining moments – for players, coaches, fans, and even sportsbooks. March Madness (men’s and women’s) is the biggest annual betting event in the US.
But in women’s college basketball, the March Madness betting boomlet masks regular-season betting inequities.
Women’s college basketball is in the midst of a historic growth period. Last year, the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game outrated the men’s final in viewership for the first time. Caitlin Clark’s popularity also sparked new records for sports betting on women’s college basketball during the tournament. But, in the regular season especially, the differences between how legal online sportsbooks in the US handle the two sports remain stark.
Industry experts point to a number of factors. Resource allocation, product placement, and questions about demand are among them. Some see it as a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma.
“The way it gets more attractive if you only get people there if they search for it instead of pushing it more aggressively out,” asked Laila Mintas, a strategic advisor and longtime executive in the sports, sports betting & iGaming space.
Sportsbooks are interested in creating markets – a type of bet someone can make, including moneyline, point spread, and totals – they think will garner interest and be profitable. They make daily choices about what to list, what betting limits they apply to prospective wagers, and about lines themselves.
Historically, online legal sportsbooks in the US haven’t been as interested in women’s basketball markets.
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