Betting on WNBA This Season Soars by 163% According to FanDuel

Since PASPA’s repeal five years ago, sports betting has grown exponentially across the United States. By now, three dozen US states offer legal sports wagering, while few are in the process of launching their markets. It’s no surprise that football, baseball, hockey and basketball are popular sports for fans and bettors to wager on. Yet, a new report reveals that over the last two years, the interest in wagering on the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has skyrocketed.

As announced by the Nevada Independent, one of the leading betting operators in the country, FanDuel, confirmed that wagering on the WNBA soared recently. Reportedly, last year, the leading betting operator saw only seven WNBA games hit $1 million in wagers. However, that trend changed in 2023, increasing more than 100% when compared to the data from last year.

According to FanDuel, this year, it recorded three WNBA games with wagers surpassing $2 million. On the other hand, the number of WNBA games surpassing the $1 million threshold skyrocketed to a total of 66 this year. Comparing this number to the records for 2022 shows that wagering on the WNBA games this year increased by a staggering 163%. Complementing further this positive figure, the betting operator posted an 87% increase in the number of first-time bettors on WNBA games.

Earlier this year, the US gambling industry association, the American Gaming Association (AGA), announced that the topflight women’s basketball league was designated as the latest one to join its “Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly” campaign. Under the terms of the collaboration, the WNBA vowed to raise awareness of responsible gambling, helping spread the message of AGA’s campaign.

Jump in Betting Comes Amid Increase in Attendance, Viewership for WNBA

The increase in betting comes amid record-breaking results for viewership and attendance of the WNBA. Earlier this month, the topflight women’s basketball league confirmed that this season was its most-watched regular season for the last two decades. According to its report, viewership across its TV partners, including ESPN, ESPN2, CBS and ABC, soared this year by 21% when compared to the results from the 2022 season.

In addition to being the most-watched regular season for the last 21 years, this WNBA season enjoyed the highest total attendance for the last 13 years. Attendance for this season increased by 16% this year when compared to last year’s season, the WNBA revealed. Additional details confirm that the overall attendance for this season hit 1,587,488, the highest in more than a decade.