Women’s Basketball Seeing Unprecedented Growth in Betting Market
Women's March Madness Handle Surges: Estimated 250% Increase
The popularity of women’s basketball has been growing exponentially over the years, and with March Madness set to tip off, it now has its moment in the spotlight.
As part of that, online sportsbooks are seeing unprecedented growth in terms of betting on the sport.
The American Gaming Association projects Americans to wager $2.72 billion on the NCAA Tournaments this year, and that only accounts for legalized sportsbooks. The women’s tournament, specifically, is projected to see a 250% increase in handle across gambling sites.
Here’s more on the women’s March Madness handle surge.
South Carolina, Iowa Dominating the Action
South Carolina — 32-0 and the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed — is a heavy -140 title favorite ahead of Iowa (+550), which boasts the best player in the country in Caitlin Clark.
“The growth year on year has been exponential driven by prominent players like Caitlin Clark,” said Matt Cosgriff, BetMGM’s director of trading.
Already, BetMGM has seen nearly triple the amount of bets on women’s basketball compared to last year. With a majority of the futures money expected to be tied up in South Carolina, Iowa and a few other favorites, sportsbooks like BetMGM surely hope to see an underdog emerge.
That generally hasn’t been the case in the women’s tournament — the lowest seed to ever win a national championship is No. 3 — but parity is growing. Just last season, No. 1 seeds Stanford and Indiana failed to make it past the second round.
After South Carolina and Iowa, the next-shortest odds belong to defending champion LSU (+750), Texas (+1500) and Stanford (+1500). Meanwhile, 11-time national champion UConn, the sport’s winningest all-time program, is +1600. Altogether, 10 schools are priced 45/1 or better.
South Carolina currently has the highest handle at BetMGM, netting 35.2% of the title money. Iowa is next in line at 27.1%, followed by LSU at 13.3%. Iowa has the highest ticket percentage at 34.7, with South Carolina and LSU at 15.9 and 8.8, respectively. Thus, they are the three biggest liabilities for sportsbooks.
The Final Four is slated for April 5 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, with the national championship on April 7 (3 p.m. ET on ABC).
“In the women’s tournament, we need a long shot to win it all — hopefully longer than a Caitlin Clark 3,” said Seamus Magee, trading manager at BetMGM. “All of the favorites — South Carolina, Iowa, and LSU, are liabilities for BetMGM.”
Be sure to keep that in mind when plotting your betting strategies for the next month.
Assessing the Landscape
Thirty U.S. states — including the District of Columbia — now offer legalized online sports betting, with North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida, Vermont, and Maine having launched within the last year. Another nine states have legal in-person betting.
That can be partially attributed to the growth in women’s sports betting and women’s March Madness handle surge.
For the women’s tournament, bettors can wager on game spreads, Over/Under totals and the moneyline. Game and team props are also available.
Stay tuned for more updates on the women’s March Madness handle surge.
For the best college basketball bets today, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
