Exposure Key For Growth In Women's Sports Betting

As the Professional Women’s Hockey League winds down its second season (30 regular-season games this year, up from 24 in the inaugural season) Bill O’Brien, Sportsbook Manager at PowerPlay.com, expanded on his comments last week about the state of wagering on women’s sports.

“Currently there is a huge gap between the turnover and number of people betting on the PWHL and that of the NHL,” said O’Brien, who considers women’s hockey a “key market” for his book. “The PWHL is obviously a league in its infancy and as popularity grows, I’m sure that will be reflected in the betting statistics.” 

No Difference in Demographics

Last week’s win by last-place New York over first-place Montreal shows that anything can happen, (like two players dropping the gloves during an Ottawa-Boston game last month) though Odds Shark’s rankings still have the Victoire a clear number one in the league. 

O’Brien was asked about the makeup of people who bet on women’s sports. 

“I don’t think there’s much of a difference between the demographics of people that bet on women’s sports and other bettors,” he said. “Women’s sports are very popular now, and as they gain more traction on TV networks, they are becoming more popular to bet on.

"I would say that the number of people that would refuse to bet on women’s sports is very low, and the main difference would be the accessibility of viewing the product. If these events are made available to people, they will watch them and they will bet on them.”

WNBA On The March

In North America, the female version of March Madness is about to ramp up interest in women’s basketball, but O’Brien also points to the high interest in women’s tennis among bettors. 

“This probably comes back to my previous point about access to the product for bettors. Women’s Grand Slams have received similar airtime to Men’s Grand Slams for years, and this is reflected in the betting numbers. More recently, we have seen an explosion in the popularity of women’s basketball. Caitlin Clark has obviously had a lot to do with this. Our numbers for WNCAA Basketball and the WNBA have increased significantly in the last two years, since her arrival on the scene,” O’Brien said.

“I would expect the WNBA to become an even more popular betting product this season. As the league becomes more mainstream and more sports fans get to know the players and franchises, betting interest will continue to increase. I would guess that over the summer months the WNBA will be in our top five most bet on leagues/events, at least.”