Caitlin Clark. Not a name you’ll soon forget this year unless you have no interest in sports, men’s or women’s. Clark, who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes, broke almost all points records including Pistol Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record.
Sportsbooks have taken notice.
Caesars Sportsbook said the number of bets on women’s college basketball rose 190 percent. That’s not all. Bettors wagered 153 percent more money.
“We saw the momentum slowly build toward the end of the regular season last year and then into the tournament,” Grant Tucker, head of college basketball trading for Caesars, told the Associated Press. “Obviously, Iowa had that great run all the way to the final. So as the tournament went along, the betting increased. Her superstardom grew. We really have never seen a college athlete like this, especially in the women’s game in any sport.”
Caesars and BetMGM plan prop bets around Clark. Her popularity has affected interest in women’s college basketball. Caesars now posts 12 to 15 women’s games a day instead of five or fewer.
Iowa rose from 12-1 odds at Caesars to win the national championship to 6-1 because of casual gamblers. The pros, however, consider South Carolina as the favorite to win it all.
“I think what’s great about Caitlin Clark is it’s changed a little bit the dynamics of college basketball,” Circa Sports owner Derek Stevens told the AP. “The interest in women’s college basketball has definitely taken a big upturn in the last two seasons, and Iowa and Caitlin Clark is the reason. I think it’s something that’s fun.”
Sheldon Jacobson, who operates the site BracketOdds, said the longer the Hawkeyes survive, the more interest there will be. “She’s become a rock star among the women’s basketball players, and that’s great for the game. It’s great for the sport, and I hope it continues,” he told the AP. “Certainly, she’ll be greatly missed when she finishes her career in just a few weeks.”
Clark will be a tough act to follow, though USC freshman JuJu Watkins might be that person.
“It’s more than just play, it’s also personality,” Jacobson told the AP. “It’s really the whole gestalt. (Clark) really brings something special to the game. I intentionally watched some of the games on TV when she was playing just because she was so interesting to watch. She brings something special to the game, and that’s great for the sport.”
But she graduates and moves on to the WNBA.
“There are more stars to come, but I don’t know if anybody can really be at the level of Caitlin Clark. I wouldn’t say it would go down to how it was four or five years ago, but I don’t know if this is really sustainable long term,” Tucker said.
