
The 2020 Olympics contested in late 2021 are finally over. However, this year Olympics has seen more betting actions by Americans, especially on Female athletes.
According to data provided by PointBet, an Australian-based sportsbook operating in six US states, 60 percent of money wagered was on female athletes.
“It’s been great to see that flip from a men’s focus. This is the first Olympics since there has been legalized online sport betting in the US.”
The US Supreme Court repealed the federal ban on sports gambling in 2018, and since then, about 21 states have legal sports betting today with some permitting online sportsbooks. Most bettors in the US are familiar with NFL and NBA but are now able to wager on new sports.
Male sports generally dominate sports betting in the US. NFL and college football generate most betting actions closely followed by NBA and then NCAA. MLB generates considerable action. NHL is the four in terms of betting.
However, in this year’s Olympics, women sports including women’s soccer, swimming, and gymnastics led the betting handle. According to PointBet, 85 percent of betting actions were on women’s soccer. However, many bettors lost when the US women’s squad failed to win gold. They were greatly favored to win but ended finishing third.
The 2020 Olympics are over, but it will be remembered as the Olympics that was held without fans due to an ongoing pandemic. It will also be remembered as an Olympics Simone Biles lost control and ended up withdrawing from most gymnastics events. Several sportsbooks had to refund for events placed on Biles, but she could not complete them.