Lady Luck: Sportsbooks Adjust Marketing Strategies to Attract Female Users

(AsiaGameHub) –   Sportsbook advertisements are consistently widespread during March Madness, yet in recent years, there has been a noticeable change in the marketing strategies employed to draw in new female customers.

Women remain largely seen as an underutilized market for commercial sportsbooks, though researchers and counselors nationwide have observed an increase in female users.

“We’re witnessing greater growth in women participating in gambling, in part due to its social acceptance and the fact that it’s omnipresent through advertising and similar channels,” said Michelle Malkin, a professor at East Carolina University who heads the institution’s Gambling Research & Policy Initiative.

‘Community’ Messaging to Sports Betting’s Burgeoning Sector

WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie directly targeted women in a DraftKings ad that launched last September, timed to coincide with the WNBA Playoffs.

Presently, Livvy Dunne features in a Fanatics Sportsbook ad for March Madness. The former LSU gymnast and social media influencer portrays different versions of herself to highlight various incentives offered by Fanatics.

Retired University of Massachusetts professor Rachel Volberg, an expert in gambling and problem gambling research, is among industry watchers acknowledging this shift.

“It’s quite evident that women are being targeted with marketing that focuses more on community and shared activities—rather than competition—to resonate with them,” Volberg said. “Influencer marketing is a strategy sports betting operators have adapted from their effective use with male bettors, and they’re now applying it specifically to women.”

Women Not Immune to Gambling Harm

Jessica Auslander, owner of Professional Wellness Management and a licensed mental health counselor specializing in gambling disorders, treats an equal number of women and men at her practice in the greater Charlotte metro area. 

“Among the women I work with, some are in their 40s, involved in sports betting or poker, and they’re former athletes,” Auslander said. “Others are older—retirement age—and while they might not focus on sports betting, they’re drawn to casino-based or online gaming activities. These types of games include a gambling element, like online slot machines.”

She pointed out that most of her female clients are “driven by boredom, depression, grief, or isolation.”

Auslander added, “I believe as gambling becomes more accessible, we’ll see growth across all demographic groups. The industry aims to offer something for everyone.”

While sportsbooks consider attracting women a critical business priority for long-term growth, counselors will continue to witness an uptick in women seeking treatment.

Rowland Edet, a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, examines this challenge in “Breaking the Odds: A Gendered Analysis of Women and Gambling Behavior.”

“To mitigate harm, public health frameworks need to prioritize interventions that address the unique ways women engage with gambling,” Edet wrote. “A crucial step is limiting gender-specific advertising, especially messages that present gambling as empowering or stress-relieving—common themes in campaigns targeting women.”