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Women Participating in Sports Betting Apps faster than Men

A recent GWS study found that 4.6 million new female users joined betting apps on sportsbooks in 2021, an increase of 115% from a year earlier, faster than men. The number of male users is still outpacing females at 250 per cent, with men using sportsbook betting apps growing by 63 per cent in that same time frame, according to GWS. Following recent comments, including one by Amy Howe from FanDuel, that highlighted the sportsbook betting apps’ aspirations of increasing their attractiveness to women.

In 2019, the American Gaming Association found that 31% of its primary sports betting customers were women, and another study found that women made up 47% of all sports fans. Those who identify as fans are over twice as likely to place sports bets themselves, meaning that there is a willing customer base of women alleged to be future sports gamblers. While women overall are not necessarily betting at the same rate their male counterparts are, the potential is there.

A 2020 study from 888 Holdings, which owns gaming brands including the online sportsbook 888Sport, found its New Jersey-based female bettor base generally wins more of their bets and makes more money than their male peers. About 10% of the male student-athletes in a 2012 study who wagered on sports had engaged in in-play betting at live events. A new survey by Mobile Insights consulting firm Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) indicates that, although more men than women download sports betting apps for mobile devices, women’s acceptance of the technology grows much faster. A big driver in bringing in more women is how the sports betting industry has evolved from casino-based betting in-person to mobile apps.

With the upcoming NFL Draft poised to increase already record-breaking amounts spent in sportsbook bets this year, new data has revealed that U.S. online betting companies are now reaching out to women users at higher rates than ever, with some betting apps now boasting more women than men on their platforms. After its 2018 launch, it did not take long for FanDuel to emerge as the top destination in the United States for sports betting and the #1 online sportsbook.

New Yorks’s sportsbook launch included players such as FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, BetRivers Sportsbook, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBet, all joining the fray on Feb. 8, 2022. Before a nearly miraculous legislative breakthrough in April 2021, lawmakers in the Empire State had been trying to negotiate a deal on online legal sports betting for the better part of three years, ever since before the Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal ban on sports betting outside Nevada. While we have no historic numbers for sports betting participation, fantasy sports betting has grown by 6 per cent since 2014 (when 13 per cent of Americans 18 and older participated).