When the 2022 WNBA Finals come to a close, they’ll cap off a postseason that garnered the league’s highest viewership in at least 20 years.
Game 1 between the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun was the most viewed Game 1 since 2017. The regular season saw its highest viewership in 14 years. The W’s fan engagement is at an all-time high.
It should come as no surprise, then, that WNBA sports betting saw record action in 2022 as well. In fact, it probably should have been anticipated as betting became legalized in more states across the country. But rather than the increased interest driving more betting, the record betting may be among the factors driving up the interest. Content and gaming platform Gaming Society has been putting that theory to the test with its ‘Bet on Women’ campaign.
“The gaming industry is the biggest growth industry in sports right now. And you see everyday it’s growing. You see billboards, you’re hearing commercials, you’re seeing commercials. So why not use this industry to help propel women’s sports for people who will literally bet on anything?” said former WNBA All-Star and Gaming Society VP of Business Development Marissa Coleman. “It’s bringing visibility to women’s sports and to female athletes using the sports betting industry.”
WIN A TRIP TO THE @WNBA FINALS! 🙌
Play the #BetOnWomen Predictor Game for Game 3 of the @seattlestorm and @LVAces for a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to a Finals game! ✈️🎟🏨
Play here: https://t.co/mby0r8ONfW pic.twitter.com/aEEzYFxeO1
— Gaming Society (@GamingSociety) September 1, 2022
Last summer, Gaming Society partnered with the WNBPA to boost engagement and make sports betting more inclusive. The partnership included an incentive program with existing sportsbooks and brands to encourage bettors to interact with women’s sports. This season, they partnered with the WNBA to launch the Bet on Women Predictor Game, which allows fans to answer game-related questions for a chance to win prizes, recently including tickets to the WNBA Finals.
“It’s just another way for fans to connect not only with their favorite players and teams, but another way for them to connect with each other and create the community around the W, because the women’s sports community is such a driving factor,” Coleman said of the game. “And you know, the second part to that is with sports betting growing at the rate that it’s growing, not wanting the W to be left behind, not wanting the NWSL to be left behind. Because again, women’s leagues are always the last to have access to get these things, so it’s almost an entryway into sports betting. We’re giving you sports betting-like questions without having to place the actual bets.”
Let’s bet on the @WNBA Finals together! We’re giving out a pair of premium headphones to one fan who shares their #WNBAFinals bet slip with us. Here's how you can win 🧵 pic.twitter.com/d4nL8L0uXr
— Gaming Society (@GamingSociety) September 14, 2022
As Coleman sees it, the more accessible women’s sports are, the more people will watch. And accessibility doesn’t end with television. It includes story-telling, and of course, gaming.
“You hear a story about this women’s soccer player or basketball player, it might resonate with you, and you might follow that player, then you might place a bet on a WNBA game,” Coleman said. “So I think it’s just this cycle that we’re really trying to create. And again, we’re democratizing sports betting for the everyday fan that just wants a little skin in the game.”
