South Carolina’s March Madness championship victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa made history off the court as well. It was the most bet-on game in women’s sports history.
The game between the Hawkeyes and Gamecocks had a 205 percent increase in bets made on the game, with a 155 percent in money spent on the game from last year’s LSU-Iowa title game on FanDuel.
On BetMGM Sportsbook, 63 percent of bets against the spread were placed on South Carolina, with the Gamecocks being favored by 6.5 points by tipoff.
The Gamecocks won the title 87-75, covering the spread despite 18 first-quarter points by Clark.
Clark scored 30 points in her final college game and heads to the WNBA as the leading overall scorer in NCAA history.
South Carolina won the national championship with a 12-point victory over Iowa on Sunday
Interest in the game was at an all-time high in part due to having the best team facing the best individual player in women’s college basketball.
The better the participants, the more likely those invested in the players are willing to bet on them.
Although last year’s matchup with LSU substituting for South Carolina had no shortage of stars with Angel Reese in the mix, this year’s national championship had the advantage of following up on last season’s momentum.
At tipoff, Iowa was a +220 underdog to win the national championship, a bet that would have failed.
Per Ben Fawkes, 10 of the 11 biggest individual bets on the game took the Gamecocks ATS, including a late $36,000 bid on the eventual undefeated champions.