March 23: UConn’s Cover Streak and Betting Drama in March Madness
March Madness is always a thrilling time for basketball fans and bettors alike, and this year’s tournament has been no exception. The first game of Sunday’s men’s March Madness slate delivered what many are calling the biggest thriller of the tournament so far. The Florida Gators managed to outlast the UConn Huskies with a nail-biting 77-75 victory, ending UConn’s hopes for a historic national championship three-peat in the 64-team era. This round of 32 matchup wasn’t just a spectacle on the court; it also produced some fascinating betting results.
UConn entered the contest as 9.5-point underdogs to the Gators, according to ESPN BET odds. This matched their largest underdog role in any NCAA tournament game since the tournament expanded in 1985. The Huskies had previously been +9.5 in the 1998 Elite 8, where they lost 75-64 to North Carolina, and in the 1999 National Championship game, where they won 77-74 against Duke.
Despite the loss, UConn’s cover on Sunday marked their 14th straight in an NCAA tournament game, extending the record for the longest cover streak since the 1985 expansion. The previous record was held by Villanova at 11 from 1985-88. As of Sunday morning at ESPN BET, 71.6% of the bets and 57.6% of the handle were supporting Florida -9.5.
Adding to the betting drama, UConn’s Liam McNeeley hit a three-pointer as time expired, pushing the game’s total points to 152 and cashing the over at 150.5, according to ESPN BET odds. This last-second shot was a game-changer for those who had wagered on the total.
For future bettors backing Florida, the Gators’ comeback victory was a relief. Florida entered March Madness at +350 to win the national championship, trailing only Duke at +280. They attracted a leading 22% of futures tickets at ESPN BET in the days following the bracket reveal, with 15% of the overall handle in the market, trailing only Duke (24%). BetMGM previously reported a $100,000 wager on Florida +900, one of its largest national championship bets.
March 20: Women’s College Basketball Betting on the Rise
Women’s college basketball is experiencing a surge in popularity, and the betting world is taking notice. Caitlin Clark’s impact on the sport has been profound, increasing TV viewership and cultural relevance, which in turn has led to an elevated sports betting handle in 2024.
With Clark now in the WNBA, one might have expected the betting interest to wane. However, reinvestment from sportsbooks and the continued star power in the sport have allowed it to flourish as we head into the 2025 NCAA tournament. The round of 64 tips off Friday.
BetMGM reported a 35% increase in total money, a 33% increase in total wagers, and a 32% increase in total players from 2023-24 to 2024-25. The sportsbook is capitalizing on the spark Clark provided, reporting a 754% increase in bets on women’s college basketball over the last two seasons.
“We definitely didn’t want to see it dip after Caitlin Clark left,” BetMGM sports trader Hannah Luther told ESPN. “Some of the growth I think is coming from us putting up more markets. We have had more games up this season than last. We’ve made a big effort to do that.”
DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello echoed the sentiment, saying action on the women’s game “hasn’t slowed down from last year.” Luther also attributes some of the increased handle to more media attention, with additional games on television and an increase in female college players appearing in ads.
Optimove, a marketing technology platform, reports that starting from the round of 64 during the 2024 NCAA women’s tournament, the average number of bets per game increased significantly each round, culminating in an astounding 22 times the number of bets per game from the beginning of the tournament. For comparison, the men’s national championship increased its average number of bets per game by 1.67 times from the first round.
Players like UConn’s Paige Bueckers, USC’s JuJu Watkins, and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo could continue the trend if their teams make deep runs.
“For this year’s Tournament, we have an expanded catalog of wagering options, as well as a variety of special markets that will tie into the biggest storylines of each round,” ESPN BET director of North American sports trading Adrian Horton said via email, calling it a “robust menu.”
Luther and Avello both noted that WNBA handle was way up in 2024, partially due to Clark’s presence, but also due to the ripple effect she’s had on the sport as a whole.
“She has gotten younger girls interested in playing basketball and some of those younger girls are now entering a stage where they’re going from high school to college,” said Avello. “The work she’s done to elevate the viewing of this game is amazing and I think that will continue for years to come.”
March 14: Injuries Impact Duke’s Odds
Injuries can have a significant impact on a team’s odds, and Duke is currently feeling the effects. Superstar Cooper Flagg’s left ankle injury during Duke’s 78-70 victory over Georgia Tech has temporarily dashed the team’s NCAA tournament ambitions.
Flagg was seen in a wheelchair following the injury, causing some sportsbooks to drop the Blue Devils from their consensus national championship favorite spot in the +300 range to +700. Flagg eventually walked back to the bench under his own power, and Duke returned to the top of the odds board, now showing a leading +320 at ESPN BET. However, it seems unlikely Flagg will play the rest of the ACC Tournament, and with fellow key player Maliq Brown also injured, Duke’s short-term odds have taken a hit.
Duke faces off against archrival North Carolina on Friday night, with the Blue Devils giving 6.5 points (juiced to -120, per ESPN BET odds) to the Tar Heels, down from the opener of -7.5. According to DraftKings’ trading team, Duke would be -13.5 for this game if Flagg were healthy.
Duke covered as 9.5-point and 12.5-point favorites in the previous two matchups this season, but the injuries are clearly forefront in bettors’ mindsets: UNC is attracting upwards of 73% of the tickets across the sportsbook marketplace, with a healthy split of handle helping to push the spread down.
The Blue Devils’ odds to win the ACC Tournament also took a serious nosedive with the injuries, even as they continue to sport odds-on pricing. Duke entered the event with -350 odds — the largest favorite price to win any conference tournament since Kentucky in 2015 (-500), per ESPN Research — and has since dropped to -130 at ESPN BET. The sportsbook reports that Duke garnered an overwhelming 60% of bets and 47% of handle in the market before the tournament tipped off.
March 13: Steelers’ Super Bowl Bets Surge
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a hot topic in the betting world during free agency. Oddsmakers believe the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears have had the best offseasons so far, but bettors have gravitated to the re-tooling Steelers.
The Steelers made headlines by landing DK Metcalf in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, sparking a flurry of betting interest. The Steelers’ Super Bowl odds moved from 60-1 to 50-1 this week at ESPN BET. Since Sunday, only the Philadelphia Eagles have attracted more money from bettors than the Steelers in ESPN BET’s Super Bowl futures market.
John Murray, vice president of the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, said his book moved the Steelers from 50-1 to 40-1 because “we were writing so many bets on them.”
- “Metcalf is a decent player, but there’s still nobody to throw him the ball and that division is super tough,” Murray told ESPN.
The Rams saw their Super Bowl odds improve slightly, moving from 25-1 to 20-1 at ESPN BET, with the re-signing of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford and the addition of receiver Davonta Adams, among other moves.
“The Rams gave the Eagles the best game of anyone they played in the postseason,” Murray said. “They aren’t that far off from potentially being a Super Bowl contender, especially with the 49ers losing so many players and we think Seattle will take a step back.”
Overall, NFL free agency had minimal impact on the odds to win the Super Bowl; the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs remain the consensus favorites, with the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions rounding out the top tier of contenders, according to sportsbooks, and most teams’ odds did not move.
“There isn’t any one player that has really shifted the market,” Murray said.
The Bears’ Super Bowl odds moved from 40-1 to 35-1 at ESPN BET, after trading for offensive linemen Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, with the sportsbook taking in the third-most money from bettors to win the Super Bowl this week, behind the Eagles and Steelers.
The shuffling of journeymen quarterbacks — Sam Darnold to Seattle, Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Justin Fields to the New York Jets — did not cause any notable odds movement for those franchises.
The Washington Commanders, who added receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, remained at 16-1 to win the Super Bowl at ESPN BET.
March 4: Mavericks’ Odds Plummet After Irving Injury
The Dallas Mavericks’ 2024-25 season has been a rollercoaster, and the latest blow is a season-ending ACL tear to star guard Kyrie Irving. The betting odds have reflected the team’s struggles all season.
The Mavericks opened at +1000 to win this season’s NBA title at ESPN BET, the sixth-best odds in the league. Those odds lengthened to +2500 by the beginning of February, when the trade that shook the NBA to its core went down.
Following the deal in which Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, the Mavs’ odds lengthened again to +3300 and further to +4400. The team’s hopes perked up slightly when Davis went off for 26 points and 16 rebounds in just over a half during his Mavericks debut, but he left that contest with an injury and has not played since.
Dallas went to +7000 following the Davis injury, but gained some steam up to +6600 upon some encouraging play and the hopes that the star center could return for a playoff run. Then, Irving tore his left ACL on Monday night and by late Tuesday morning, when ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed the season-ending diagnosis, the Mavs fell all the way to 200-1, tied with the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns for 14th on the odds board. Other sportsbooks show even longer odds, with FanDuel posting 550-1.
The Mavericks’ championship line saw moderate action, at best, throughout the campaign, attracting just 5.6% of the wagers and 4.8% of the handle at ESPN BET.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have enjoyed the spoils of the trade, going 10-2 since acquiring Doncic and 6-2 with him in the lineup. L.A.’s title odds immediately shortened from +4000 to +1600 following the deal, and they’ve since made it to +1400, currently fifth on ESPN BET’s odds board.
Contrasting the Mavs, the Lakers have the most bets (15.1%) and money (16.7%) wagered to win this season’s NBA championship, including a league-leading 27.9% of tickets and 31.7% of handle since the fateful trade.
March 3: Table Tennis Betting Breaks Records Again
Table tennis might not be the first sport that comes to mind when you think of betting, but it’s been making waves in Colorado. A record $31.7 million was bet on table tennis in January with Colorado sportsbooks, marking the second straight month of record betting interest on the sport.
This trend began five years ago during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when table tennis tournaments in Eastern Europe were among the very few sporting events taking place. The tournaments became popular with sports bettors in the U.S. and have sustained interest over the last five years. Matches are played throughout the day and all hours of the night, some of them streamed on sportsbook apps.
Colorado is the only state that reports betting figures on table tennis, but sportsbooks say the interest is similar in other states. A spokesperson for BetMGM told ESPN that table tennis comes in behind major sports, “but given the number of matches available daily, tickets and handle can match or exceed betting on MMA and golf.”
In January, the $31.7 million bet on table tennis with Colorado sportsbooks was more than tennis, soccer, and hockey, as well as nearly triple the amount bet on the sport in January 2024.
Approximately 99.9% of the money bet on table tennis with Colorado sportsbooks in January was placed online. The sportsbooks won a net $1.7 million on table tennis bets during the month, according to figures released by the Colorado Department of Revenue.
More table tennis links:
- New Jersey suspends betting on Ukrainian table tennis after match-fixing alert
Originally Written by: ESPN
