It goes without saying that the sports gambling industry has experienced a meteoric rise over the past few years. Widespread legalization has made wagering more accessible than ever before. A Harvard student will soon be able to bet on events as obscure as second-division Australian soccer (we like West Adelaide at +130) from the comfort of their dorm room. There are podcasts, TV shows, and columns such as the Indy Sportsbook dedicated to covering the topic. However, all of this content—including our own—is often exclusively focused on men’s sports.
Like many other disparities of this kind, this one stems from a lack of attention and resources. Despite comprising around 40% of professional athletes, women receive 4% of all media coverage. Bettors are much less likely to place money on something they never hear about. Sportsbooks also rely on a wide range of statistics to construct their lines and bettors subsequently use them to make their picks. Collecting this data is often too costly for women’s sports organizations, meaning there is less to place a bet on. This “data gap” is well documented and is closing, but for now remains substantial.
Nevertheless, the Indy Sportsbook is determined to not let gender inequalities get in the way of telling you where to risk your hard-earned money. There are thankfully still markets in the more broadly covered women’s sports, such as basketball and tennis. For the latter, we’re looking at Danielle Collins to win the ATX Open this weekend at +500. If you’re looking for more of an outsider, Alycia Parks is a promising young player with a potential high payout at +1200.
This weekend also brings an exciting slate of UFC fights featuring Valentina Shevchenko, the #2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world. While we think picking Alexa Grasso to defeat her at +450 is extremely bold, betting on the fight lasting over 4.5 rounds at +120 is much more reasonable. In terms of the undercard, we think Amanda Ribas will beat Viviane Arujo at -120.
It is never too early to start looking ahead towards arguably the greatest time of the year for sports bettors: March Madness. We don’t mind Indiana +800 or Iowa +5000 at all. Iowa has Junior Caitlin Clark, whose limitless range poses a problem for any defense she comes up against. Indiana—despite falling recently to Iowa with a Caitlin Clark buzzer-beater three—are one of the top teams in the country and are a force to be reckoned with.
While all of these lines are worth your attention, we are admittedly in a natural lull when it comes to women’s sports. That will change completely when the WNBA season and FIFA Women’s World Cup begin this summer. As the only major men’s event to bet on will be regular season MLB games, we suggest putting your internship paycheck towards this instead.
Looking at the Women’s World Cup, you would be remiss in looking past the favorites, USA at +300. Coming off their fourth-straight She Believes Cup title, the USA is in form and looking to make it a three-peat in Australia this summer. If you are hoping to bet elsewhere, there are a lot of teams that come tournament time could put together a run for the title. The 2022 European Champions England at +340 are one of such contenders. The Lionesses are hoping that Golden Boot winner Beth Mead will be available after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in November 2022, which would greatly improve their odds of victory.
Additionally, it is hard to ignore Spain at +650 if superstar Alexia Putellas is able to return from injury. As the back-to-back Ballon D’or Feminin winner, her availability would greatly increase La Roja’s chances of victory. Taking them now could be a great value play. If you are searching for someone with slightly longer odds, then look no further than Sweden at+1600. While they suffered a heavy loss to eventual champions England in the Euro 2022 Semifinals, Sweden is not a team to be ignored when it comes to tournament play. A silver medal in the 2020 Olympics and 3rd place at the 2019 World Cup show that Sweden is always a threat for the title.
The deserved favorites for the WNBA title are the defending champion Las Vegas Aces at +135. They are coming off an absolutely dominant season and have a roster full of stars including two-time MVP A’ja Wilson. Expect reigning Coach of the Year Becky Hammond to ensure her team shows no rust when their season tips off in May. However, they face major competition from the New York Liberty at +150, who just signed two of the best players in the game. New signings Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones promise to make the Liberty a worthy adversary.
These picks may be unfamiliar to many—and admittedly some are to the Indy Sportsbook—but they will hopefully increase as time goes on. After all, what’s not to like about twice the games to win or lose money on?
Declan Buckley ’24 (declanbuckley@college.harvard.edu) and Andrew Christie ’26 (andrewchristie@college.harvard.edu) would love to find lines for second-division Australian women’s soccer.