Caitlin Clark came up short in her quest to lead Iowa to the national championship in her final college game.
Major U.S. sportsbooks DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM confirmed ESPN’s report that Sunday’s NCAA women’s basketball national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa was their most bet on women’s sporting event on record.
FanDuel specifically saw a 155% increase in the amount of money bet and a 205% increase in its bet count compared to how the 2023 national title game performed at the sportsbook. The large betting increase is an indicator of the increasing financial value of women’s college basketball. The NCAA valued the women’s tournament at around $65 million in its new media deal that begins in September, according to the Associated Press.
“This year’s women’s March Madness tournament delivered on its hype and truly showed the power of the women’s game,” Karol Corcoran, senior vice president and general manager of FanDuel, told Sportico in a statement.
BetMGM saw betting records set in the Elite Eight, Final Four and championship games. The title game had a 34% increase from the Final Four game between Iowa and UConn.
The market for sports betting is also significantly higher annually as more states legalize sports betting each year. DraftKings had 2.6 million monthly users last year and now has 3.5 million.
Caitlin Clark’s stellar four years at Iowa ended with Sunday’s 87-75 loss to South Carolina that saw her finish with an NCAA record 3,951 career points. A spokesperson for BetMGM told Sportico that Clark received the second most prop bets of both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Purdue center Zach Edey, who is playing in tonight’s men’s championship game against UConn, received the most prop bets.
