The other semifinal has garnered widespread attention, too, with unbeaten and heavily favored South Carolina facing off with Iowa and star guard Caitlyn Clark. The Gamecocks are an 11½-point favorite, and bettors must pay a massive price of -340 on Carolina to win the national championship. That means for every $34 bet, a successful wager would only profit $10.
The Gamecocks were -250 to start the NCAA tournament, and most bettors aren’t paying that price, Pullen said. The result is if South Carolina takes home the title, as expected, it’s the best-case scenario for sportsbooks, too.
“Investing in the team for a whole year, people say, ‘Do I want to lay money to win money to win a championship that’s months away?'” Pullen said. “It’s definitely unusual. We need South Carolina to win the title, but anything can happen.”
Another reason this Final Four is proving to be popular is that for the first time, Caesars and other national books like DraftKings and FanDuel have offered the majority of regular-season games for the first time. A decade or more ago, Pullen said, Caesars would only allow bets on headliner regular-season games, like if UConn played Tennessee, and then wait for the tournament.
That’s changing fast.
“The women’s game, people want to bet it, there’s a thirst for it; people have asked for it over the years, and slowly, we’ve offered more and more,” Pullen said. “And the more they’re used to betting it in the regular season, the tournament handle is going to increase as well.”
And while the total numbers still pale in comparison to the men’s tournament, it all adds up to a women’s Final Four that many will watch — and plenty will have some money on the line, too.
“And look, you’re going to have good matchups, too,” Pullen said. “South Carolina doing what they do, Iowa with Caitlyn Clark, and then LSU and Virginia Tech having great seasons.
“I say this a lot, but every year is going to set more records.”
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