The Disparity in College Basketball Betting: Why Women’s Games Are Hard to Find

The world of sports betting is booming, but when it comes to college basketball, there’s a stark disparity between men’s and women’s games. On a typical Tuesday morning in late February, a fan in New York logging into FanDuel’s online sportsbook would find 33 men’s college basketball games listed for betting, but not a single women’s game. This isn’t an isolated incident. The following day, the platform offered odds on 49 men’s games compared to just seven women’s games. The gap is consistent, with some days showing a 50-11 difference. This raises a critical question: Why is it so much harder to find and bet on women’s college basketball games?

The Visibility of Women’s College Basketball in Sportsbooks

The lack of visibility for women’s college basketball in legal sportsbooks is a significant issue. While men’s college basketball games are often prominently displayed on apps and websites, women’s games are frequently buried. For example, a fan might need to click through multiple tabs or menus to find a women’s game, while a men’s game might be just one tap away. This lack of accessibility sends a clear message: Women’s basketball isn’t prioritized.

Experts like Ceyda Mumcu, a professor of sport management, point out that this isn’t just about visibility—it’s about intentionality. “It is not as accessible, and you have to dig and click around to find it if it is there,” Mumcu said. Laila Mintas, a strategic advisor in the sports betting industry, added, “They make it so hard for us to bet what we’re looking for by hiding it somewhere down in the tabs.” The placement of women’s games in sportsbooks reflects a broader cultural undervaluing of women’s sports.

The Role of Demand and Resource Allocation

The disparity in betting markets isn’t just about visibility; it’s also about resource allocation. Sportsbooks prioritize creating markets they believe will attract interest and generate profit. While men’s college basketball has a well-established betting audience, women’s basketball is often seen as a riskier investment. This creates a chicken-or-the-egg problem: How can demand grow if the product isn’t being actively promoted?

Brett Abarbanel, an associate professor at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, emphasized the importance of intentionality. “You have to be intentional about wanting to do this,” she said. For example, during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament, sportsbooks like DraftKings saw a surge in interest when they prominently featured bets on Iowa’s star player, Caitlin Clark. Johnny Avello, DraftKings’ director of sportsbook operations, admitted that women’s college basketball betting was “pretty stagnant” until Clark’s rise to prominence. The success of her games showed what’s possible when sportsbooks actively promote women’s basketball.

The Emergence of Star Power in Women’s Basketball

Caitlin Clark’s impact on women’s college basketball betting cannot be overstated. During the 2024 NCAA Women’s Championship, BetMGM reported that Clark’s player props were the most-bet tickets in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Her popularity also highlighted a broader trend: When sportsbooks invest in promoting women’s basketball, the results can be dramatic.

Hannah Luther, BetMGM’s women’s basketball trader, noted that interest in the sport has remained strong even after Clark’s move to the WNBA. “We’ve been shown that people are definitely interested even though she’s moved on to the WNBA,” Luther said. This suggests that the “Caitlin Clark Effect” wasn’t just a fleeting moment—it marked a turning point in how sportsbooks approach women’s basketball.

The Challenges of Staffing and Risk Management

Another factor contributing to the disparity is staffing. Promoting a sport requires dedicated resources, including traders who specialize in creating and managing betting markets. BetMGM, for example, has increased its investment in women’s basketball, offering over 1,200 regular-season games this year compared to just 250 in the 2022-23 season. However, many sportsbooks still lack a dedicated team for women’s basketball, relying instead on general traders to handle both men’s and women’s markets.

Risk management is another critical factor. For less-established markets like women’s college basketball, sportsbooks often set betting limits lower than those for men’s games to minimize potential losses. While this reduces risk, it also makes the bets less appealing to gamblers. Additionally, creating markets for women’s games can be more labor-intensive. At BetMGM, some processes that are automated for men’s basketball still require manual input for women’s games. “So putting up a smaller game is going to take more effort if it’s a women’s game rather than a men’s,” Luther explained.

Illegal Betting Markets and the Missed Opportunity

The lack of legal betting options for women’s college basketball has an unintended consequence: It drives fans to illegal gambling sites. According to data from YieldSec, a leading marketplace intelligence platform, illegal sportsbooks offered more than 4.1 times as many women’s basketball betting markets as legal sportsbooks in the U.S. last year. The total amount bet on women’s basketball illegally ($1.49 billion) was nearly as much as the amount bet on men’s basketball legally ($1.55 billion).

This disparity represents a missed opportunity for legal sportsbooks. “The lack of betting offers from the legal industry is weirdly, inadvertently, unconsciously, maybe, driving people into illegal gambling because they can’t find the bets they want on legal sites,” said Ismail Vali, YieldSec’s founder and CEO. As women’s college basketball continues to grow in popularity, legal sportsbooks are leaving revenue on the table by not fully embracing the sport.

The Path Forward for Women’s College Basketball Betting

Despite the challenges, there are encouraging signs of progress. BetMGM has seen a 750% increase in women’s basketball bets over the past two years, driven in part by its expanded market offerings. Other sportsbooks, like DraftKings, are also taking steps to close the gap. Johnny Avello predicts that this year’s women’s NCAA Tournament will be as big as any before, though he acknowledges that men’s and women’s betting totals still aren’t comparable.

Industry experts like Brett Abarbanel believe that the disparity between men’s and women’s college basketball betting will shrink in the next five years. However, for now, many insiders argue that the sports betting industry still undervalues women’s basketball. As Ceyda Mumcu put it, “The mentality needs to change, and we can’t necessarily see that across the board just yet.”

The future of women’s college basketball betting will depend on whether sportsbooks are willing to invest in the sport—by hiring dedicated staff, creating more markets, and giving women’s games the visibility they deserve. Until then, the gap between men’s and women’s betting options will remain a reminder of the work still to be done.