Last April, 4.85 million people tuned in to watch South Carolina beat UConn in Minneapolis for the national championship in women’s college basketball. According to ESPN, it was the most-watched season finale in the sport since 2004, and the early round games were the most-consumed on-record.
We don’t have the data, but it’s easy to assume that a large chunk of those folks watching the women in last spring’s March Madness were wagering cold hard cash on those games too. Forbes reported last year that Americans were expected to spend $3.1 billion in betting on the men’s tournament. Surely, there had to be some crossover.
