The seismic growth the WNBA enjoyed in 2024 wasn’t limited to a few more ticket sales or ad buys.
Rather, the arrival of rookie sensation Caitlin Clark helped transform the NBA‘s ‘little sister’ into a sudden bull market with a 50-percent spike in attendance, 500-percent increase in merchandise sales, forthcoming expansion teams, and a brand-defining media deal worth $200 million annually.
And with a record 54 million viewers in 2024 – including a league-high 1.18 million per game for Clark‘s Indiana Fever – the league also enjoyed a 60-percent jump in sponsors, according to Ad Age.
But the most intriguing metric for anyone betting on the WNBA’s future is, well, betting.
Once overlooked by NFL- and college basketball-obsessed gamblers, the WNBA saw a four-fold increase on FanDuel over the first 50 games of 2024, the sportsbook’s general manager Karol Corcoran told DailyMail.com.
Caitlin Clark was the subject of 13 percent of all WNBA prop bets on FanDuel in 2024
And over July, August and September – the heart of the WNBA season – American sports books enjoyed a 42.4-percent overall increase compared to 2023 as gamblers laid down $3.24 billion in bets, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA).
Now, Corcoran believes, the WNBA is positioned to compete with North America’s ‘Big Four’ at US sports books.
‘We expect betting interest to continue to correspond with the growing interest in the league,’ Corcoran explained in an email to DailyMail.com. ‘As star players continue to grow their followings and more emerge throughout the league, we would not be surprised to see WNBA betting interest match with interest in some of the traditional leading leagues.’
Unsurprisingly, the bulk of WNBA wagering has centered around the league’s Rookie of the Year, Clark, who became something of an obsession for noted gambler and Barstool Sports founder, Dave Portnoy. Ultimately the unwavering Clark supporter placed a doomed $100,000 bet on the 100-to-1 longshot Fever to win the WNBA title before Indiana’s first-round playoff defeat.
But Portnoy was hardly the only gambler wagering on Clark, who was particularly popular in prop bets.
A league-high 13 percent of WNBA prop bets on FanDuel centered on Clark — seven times more than last year’s leader, A’Ja Wilson, garnered in 2023, according to the sportsbook. Meanwhile, Clark’s rookie rival Angel Reese attracted 5 percent of all WNBA prop bets on FanDuel during her impressive rookie season with the Chicago Sky.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese proved to be two of the biggest draws in WNBA history in 2024
A’Ja Wilson, one of the biggest stars of the WNBA, has also drawn gamblers’ interest online
Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy has become, perhaps, the highest-profile WNBA gambler
Truthfully, gamblers’ interest in Clark and Reese predates their arrival in the WNBA.
Clark’s Iowa famously fell to Reese’s LSU in the 2023 NCAA Finals, which remains one of the highest-rated women’s basketball games ever played. And their 2024 rematch in the Elite 8 was even more popular, as a peak audience of 17.3 million viewers watched the Hawkeyes exact revenge en route to a Finals loss to South Carolina.
Clark and Reese began drawing interest from gamblers during their NCAA days
Naturally, the popularity of those games translated to sports books.
‘The growth in betting interest in women’s basketball has been happening for a couple of years, and we really saw it take off during the 2024 March Madness tournament,’ Corcoran told DailyMail.com. ‘Iowa’s Elite Eight, Final Four and National Championship games broke records for the biggest women’s sports betting events on our platform on their respective days, and we’ve seen that momentum carry into the WNBA.’
And that momentum has helped crystalize a clear opportunity for both sportsbooks and the league.
Studies such as the 2022 Variety Intelligence Platform have posited that sports gambling significantly drives viewership for various leagues. In America alone, the study revealed, 88 percent of avid bettors said they regularly watch sports, whereas just 41 percent of non-gamblers did so.
That’s obviously good news for the WNBA as more gamblers become familiar with the league.
However, it could mean even more for sportsbooks, who’ve been primarily dealing with male customers since the Supreme Court paved the way for the legalization of sports gambling on a state-by-state basis in 2018.
According to the AGA’s August survey, roughly a quarter of participants in sports gambling are women. That evidently leaves significant room for growth, considering 44 percent of WNBA fans are female, according to a YouGov.com Sports Index poll.
Attendance and merchandise sales are up thanks to stars like Clark, Reese and Cameron Brink
Sports books are usually a male domain, but that could be changing thanks to the WNBA
Sports books are also directly fueling interest in the league through various promotional offers. At FanDuel, for instance, customers who bet on the ‘W’ received a free month of WNBA League Pass to help them stay up to speed on Clark & Co.
And now FanDuel is planning to increase its offerings for WNBA fans ahead of the 2025 season in anticipation of higher demand.
‘As more fans become more familiar with the WNBA and athletes throughout the league, it provides new opportunities for them to engage,’ Corcoran said. ‘More people are watching the WNBA, and customers are looking for betting opportunities in real time. We are focused on meeting the demand and offering our customers the most sophisticated product, with the markets and player props they are looking for.’
And as Corcoran sees it, that growth is a two-way street.
‘For sports like the WNBA, our investment to expand our offering is helping more fans engage and contributes to growing the game,’ he said.