One Tuesday morning in late February, a fan in New York who logged into FanDuel’s online sportsbook would’ve 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 midmajor men’s contests, such as Western Illinois vs. Lindenwood, Troy vs. Texas State and Bowling Green vs. Eastern Michigan. However, 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 U.S.
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…
