Last April, 4.85 million people tuned in to watch South Carolina beat UConn in Minneapolis for the national championship in women’s college basketball. According to ESPN, it was the most-watched season finale in the sport since 2004, and the early round games were the most-consumed on-record.
We don’t have the data, but it’s easy to assume that a large chunk of those folks watching the women in last spring’s March Madness were wagering cold hard cash on those games too. Forbes reported last year that Americans were expected to spend $3.1 billion in betting on the men’s tournament. Surely, there had to be some crossover.
On Monday, when the 2022-23 college basketball season began, one could easily find odds on a plethora of men’s games for the day – from matchups like Coppin State vs. Charlotte (-10), to La Salle vs. No. 16 Villanova (-15), to Howard vs. No. 4 Kentucky (-25.5).
BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars – they all had them.
But those same popular American sportsbooks had hardly any lines posted for women’s basketball games on opening day. DraftKings posted lines for eight games Monday afternoon, but well after several games tipped off at 11 a.m. EST.
It’s incredibly disappointing. It’s not only a major missed opportunity by these books, but it’s an example of – from media coverage to betting – how women’s sports are treated unfairly and unequally when compared to men’s sports. According to a study from USC and Purdue released last year, women’s sports received about only 5% of total media coverage. As legal sports gambling has grown in popularity, that disparity is showing up there too.
This is despite sportsbooks reporting record action on the WNBA season just a few weeks ago.
There’s over 70 Divison 1 Women’s College basketball games today, with the games starting in 15 minutes.
There are zero betting lines on all major sportsbooks in America.
Absolutely ridiculous and I’m extremely disappointed.
— Dano Mataya (@drmataya) November 7, 2022
Furthermore, the matchups in women’s college basketball during the opening week are a lot more compelling than the men’s.
No men’s team ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll is playing another ranked opponent until NEXT TUESDAY, Nov. 15, when No. 7 Duke meets No. 5 Kansas in Indianapolis, Indiana. That’s a pretty boring way to start a season off, no?
Meanwhile, the women’s slate features several interesting ranked matchups that could entice bettors in its first week of play, including:
- No. 21 Creighton at No. 23 South Dakota State – Nov. 7
- No. 5 Tennessee at No. 14 Ohio State – Nov. 8
- No. 1 South Carolina at No. 17 Maryland – Nov. 11
- No. 11 Indiana at No. 5 Tennessee – Nov. 14
- No. 3 Texas at No. 6 UConn – Nov. 14
- No. 22 Nebraska at No. 21 Creighton – Nov. 15
One of the lines DraftKings does have is for that Creighton versus South Dakota State matchup. The JackRabbits are favored by 2.5 points.
The good news is that at least one other sportsbook does have lines on women’s college basketball – Tipico. If you are so inclined, you can check those out while the others play catch-up. And a few of the main sportsbooks have futures odds, at least. Check out our bold predictions before putting your money down on, say, Virginia Tech +4000.
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