Report: Iowa-LSU Elite Eight game most-bet sporting event Monday, beating out pro leagues
Iowa and LSU’s matchup in the Elite Eight not only garnered nationwide attention, but nationwide money, too. The highly-anticipated matchup was the most-bet sporting event on FanDuel on Monday, ahead of all competing NBA, MLB, and NHL games, per Joe Pompliano.
The mind-blowing report is only the latest sign of women’s basketball’s rapid growth. With more star power than ever before, women’s basketball has repeatedly shattered ratings records this season. Financial opportunities have followed closely behind.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese are both in the top 10 of On3’s NIL 100, boasting seven-figure valuations. On Monday night, fans witnessed the climax of the sport, with the two stars facing off against one another in a heated rematch.
Last season, Clark and Reese met in the national championship, with LSU walking away with a victory. The trash talk and showmanship peaked intrigue in women’s basketball and reeled in countless new viewers.
After nearly a year apart, the two foes faced off again with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The long-awaited showdown not disappoint. The teams went to war, with Iowa ultimately emerging victorious.
Clark erupted in the triumph, tallying a game-high 41 points and 12 assists while shooting 13-29 from the field and 9-20 from beyond the arc. Reese put on a show, as well, notching 17 points and 20 rebounds in LSU’s losing effort.
Financially-invested fans around the country anxiously grasped their faces in anticipation of every board and basket. While Monday may have been the most-bet women’s basketball day of the year, it isn’t the lone betting surge the sport has seen this season.
“FanDuel says that bet count is up 139 percent since last year for the first two rounds of the women’s tournament, and that active customers betting on the women’s markets have increased by 172 percent,” The Athletic’s Hannah Vanbiber wrote. “DraftKings says they have had 13X growth year over year in betting volume on the women’s tournament.”
Last year, bettors would have been hard-pressed to find a single prop bet in the women’s game. Now, sites such as FanDuel offer Caitlin Clark-themed specials. It’s a 180-degree turnaround and with viewership growing, betting sites won’t slow down anytime soon.
On Friday, sportsbooks will likely receive another influx of fervent fans, hoping to hit it big. With star-studded matchups such as UConn-Iowa and South Carolina–NC State, fans will have no shortage of talent to bet on in the women’s basketball Final Four.