As the biggest women’s sporting event in the world comes to a close this weekend, Entain, the global sports betting, gaming, and interactive entertainment group, reveals the exponential growth in betting on the Women’s World Cup across the globe.

The top trend seen by Entain’s UK sportsbook is the number of women betting on the women’s beautiful game. Entain’s Ladbrokes and Coral brands in the UK recorded that the first three England games saw an average 21% of bets placed by women, compared to 17% in the 2022 Women’s Euros, and 13% during the last World Cup in 2019.

This rising trend of female bettors is also reflected by the co-hosts, who are bringing a new legion of fans to women’s football as the tournament is hosted in the Southern Hemisphere for the very first time. Data from Entain’s partner and official sponsor of the tournament, TAB New Zealand, reveals that almost 15% of bets recorded by TAB New Zealand have been placed by women compared to 9% in 2019.

There has also been a rise in betting more broadly on the Women’s World Cup in the co- hosting countries. TAB New Zealand recorded a 365% increase in number of bets placed on the tournament this year as fans get into the World Cup spirit – despite their home team getting knocked out in the group stage. In Australia, the increase was almost 200%, fuelled by the Matildas deep run into the knock-out stage.

Across the pond, the strength of the US women’s team has also been credited for the rising number of US fans backing women’s football. In fact, for the US women’s team’s opening game vs. Vietnam, BetMGM saw three times the number of bets compared to Lionel Messi’s debut for Inter Miami CF.

The growth of women’s football has been nothing short of a phenomenon. And it is only set to get bigger, as a recent study by IBIA, co-funded by Entain, revealed that football leads in the volume of people betting on women’s sport – bets on women’s football have grown at an annual market growth rate of approximately 20% since 2020.

Dominic Grounsell, Entain’s Chief Commercial Officer, comments: “This summer, we’re witnessing the biggest Women’s World Cup in history, and around the world there is a growing audience and appetite for women’s sports. The facts say it all. More of our customers are finding new ways to support their favourite teams – and that’s with a bet. This can only be brilliant for women’s sport. As this Women’s World Cup is proving, the interest from fans is there, which paves the way for women’s sport to gain bigger audiences, more media attention, and more avenues for aspiring female athletes around the world to take up sports professionally.”

Entain supports ambitious and talented female athletes through its partnership with SportsAid, and its Pitching In initiative. In fact, 18 of the UK’s 23-woman World Cup squad this year were previous beneficiaries of SportsAid funding, a charity that supports over 1,000 athletes each year – by providing them with a financial award to help towards training and competition costs.