Sports
Sports betting isn't just a man's game now. Meet the women making wagers.
Ladies, place your bets. Women now represent nearly a third of all sports bettors, according to Morgan Stanley’s most recent sports betting survey. They’re also placing slightly bigger bets than their male counterparts, on average: $51.1 vs. men’s $48.6. Wagering has gained enough traction among women that there’s even a dedicated online community for them: Betting Ladies.
Like so many activities that were once deemed vices in the U.S. (think: bourbon, weed and even porn), the internet has brought gambling — and sports betting, in particular — out from the male-dominated shadows and into mainstream American life. Now women are getting in the game.
Below, three women share how they got into gambling and why it’s more about the thrill than the money. Introducing … the ladies who bet.
‘It’s opening up and becoming more inclusive’
Val Martinez has been gambling since she was a teen in the U.K. (where it was legal). Now, she runs the Betting Ladies website for women in the U.S. (Photo Illustration: Oscar Duarte for Yahoo News, photos: courtesy of Val Martinez, Getty Images)
Val Martinez has been placing bets since she was a teenager living in the United Kingdom. She and her girlfriends would place the occasional bet on soccer games or horse races they attended. “It was just kind of normal and fun,” Martinez tells Yahoo Life.
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Back then, sports betting like Martinez was engaging in for entertainment wasn’t exactly legal here in the United States. For most of U.S. history, gambling wasn’t strictly banned at the federal level, but the majority of states had laws against it (a notable exception was Nevada, which re-legalized betting and casino gaming in 1931). Meanwhile, gangs and shadowy operators cornered the market on bookmaking. In 1992, former NBA star turned U.S. senator Bill Bradley sponsored and helped pass a federal ban on sports betting. For 26 years, the prohibition stood, but it was eventually thrown out as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
That same year, Martinez moved to the U.S, eyeing the “baby industry” of American sports gambling both as a recreational bettor and as an entrepreneur, she says. She sought out educational information about betting in her new home that was geared toward women and light on jargon. “But in the beginning it was a land grab for the main target demographic,” which was, of course, men, Martinez says.
That didn’t dissuade her. She’d spent most of her career in banking, which had also been male-dominated. “With the evolution of women coming to the workplace, now you see a lot more women in investment banking, and it’s the same in sports betting,” she says. “Now it’s opening up and becoming more inclusive.”
Still, there wasn’t a home base for the kind of information and camaraderie that Martinez was looking for, so she made one. Betting Ladies was founded in 2022 and has grown to include about 1,000 members, according to Martinez. “It’s a mixed bag of pro bettors looking for different strategies, and new bettors who have never placed a wager before and are trying to understand what the fuss is all about,” she says.
‘I love a good underdog’
Cristina Sarria places small bets as a kind of vote of confidence in the teams and players she wants to see win — even if odds are low. (Photo Illustration: Oscar Duarte for Yahoo News, photos: courtesy of Cristina Sarria, Getty Images)
Cristina Sarria, a 43-year-old stay-at-home mom, is more of a novice than a seasoned bettor. By her own admission, Sarria is not trying to place particularly strategic bets. She doesn’t do a lot of research and plays parlays (a high-risk kind of combined wager, in which multiple “legs,” or bets, are tied into one, and the bettor loses the whole gamut if any one bet doesn’t go their way). But Sarria also doesn’t bet much money, and isn’t really in it for profit.
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Sarria grew up playing tennis, met her husband playing flag football in college and describes herself as competitive. But these days, there’s always a race or game on TV in their house, because her husband is a fan of NASCAR, basketball and football. “We watch them a lot, so having a little stake in the game makes it more fun, and there’s some fun sports stories that happen,” she tells Yahoo Life. That’s a big part of the draw for her: “I love a good underdog story. I just want to see them win.” And Sarria loves it when her unlikely bet hits, and she gets to prove male counterparts wrong, or demonstrate her sports-savvy.
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She started gambling about three years ago, more or less on a whim. She put money on the underdog to win the Super Bowl that year (she doesn’t remember which year, or which team she hung her hat on). To her surprise and delight, however, she and her team won. Not long after, she saw an ad for Fanatics, an online sportsbook (which had the largest share of women bettors compared to other major companies, according to the Morgan Stanley report) that was looking for beta testers. She received a number of free “promo” bets — companies sometimes give their bettors money to gamble with to entice them to play) — which Sarria placed on March Madness matchups. “It’s so fun to bet on those, because there’s always some upset, some crazy games,” she says. Sarria has been making bets almost daily, usually in the $5 to $10 range, ever since.
What was a whim for Sarria is by design for sports betting companies. When Yahoo Finance asked FanDuel CEO Amy Howe about women sports bettors, she described the demographic as representing a “huge opportunity” and a “big priority” for the company. Companies’ efforts to draw in female bettors seem to be paying off, and shifting how women gamble, Lia Nower, associate dean of research at Rutgers University’s Center for Gambling Studies, tells Yahoo Life. “Historically, women started [gambling] in their 40s and 50s, largely because they went to casinos with friends,” Nower says. “That changed with online gaming; women are gambling in response to advertising on TV.”
And they’re starting earlier, with many taking up sports betting in college, around the same time men typically do. Sportsbooks are also cashing in on the rising interest in women’s sports. The ascendence of WNBA megastar Caitlin Clark, in particular, has been credited with the nearly 600% increase in betting (by people of any gender) on women’s college basketball seen by leading site BetMGM.
‘I loved the horses, but betting makes it a challenge’
After growing up in a family of Kentucky horse trainers, Michele Fischer got interested in the betting side of the racetrack, and the sportsbooks. (Photo Illustration: Oscar Duarte for Yahoo News, photos: courtesy of Michele Fischer, Getty Images)
Michele Fischer, 52, says she “basically grew up at the race track” in her Kentucky hometown, where her parents trained race horses. When she’d accompany her family to the track to see the fruits of their labor, Fischer learned to read the Daily Racing Form, a newspaper for horse enthusiasts. The Racing Form publishes the results of races and performances of various horses, which helps racegoers determine what their wagers should be. “It was fun to pick horses,” says Fischer. “I loved the sport of it, I loved the horses, but betting makes it a challenge.”
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While most people actually betting on the races when she was growing up were men, women were often the ones working directly with the horses, Fischer explains. When she’d go to the track as a child and young woman, “people would assume I was there for the fashion,” she says. Similarly, when she was younger, “when we wanted to talk about women in sports, we [used to] slap something pink on it, or dumb it down,” she says. “We’re not dumb!” Sports betting content is taking women more seriously, she says.
And it’s working. Women’s participation has nearly tripled since 2022, according to Morgan Stanley’s latest report on sports betting in the U.S. The share of women who said they had gambled in the past month has risen from 11% in 2022 to 23% in 2024.
Gambling is “not a career for me,” says Fischer, who adds that she isn’t a particularly good bettor. But the gambling industry has become her job (she is vice president of U.S. content services for SIS, a U.K.-based online sportsbook company). Neither she nor Sarria gamble with an expectation of making a lot of money, even though there’s some evidence that women are savvier bettors than men. Off the clock, Fischer places relatively low bets, and loves to take friends with her to the track to see the horses and learn to bet. “It’s no pressure; they just ask a lot of questions and the next time they ask a few more, and that’s how you create fans,” Fischer says. “It’s like book club!” Except that these ladies are here for the sportsbook club.
If you or someone you know may be struggling with a gambling addiction, the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 800-522-4700 is available 24/7 and is fully confidential. This gambling hotline connects callers to local health and government organizations that can assist.
LATHAM, N.Y. – Juniors Savannah Owens (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) and Jillian Zukley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s indoor track & field team claimed the United East Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week awards as released by the league office Tuesday (Dec. 9).
Owens was named the United East Track Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career while Zukley garnered United East Field Athlete of the Week honors for the fifth time during her indoor career.
St. Mary’s College opened the 2025-26 campaign at the Christopher Newport University Holiday Open on Dec. 6.
Owens broke a school record in her return following a year away from the Seahawks indoor and outdoor track & field teams. The 5-5 sprinter took second in the 600m with a program record of 1:44.22, breaking the previous school record of 1:49.93 set by teammate Avery Arizzi ’27 on Dec. 2, 2023. She also placed third in the 800m in 2:35.81 while leading off the fourth-place 4x400m.
Following her performance, Owens leads the conference in the 800m while ranking 18th in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Zukley qualified for the 2026 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships (Mar. 6-7) in the weight throw in the first indoor meet of the season. The 6-3 thrower opened her junior campaign with a bang as she captured the shot put with 11.67m. She then came in second in the weight throw with a school record 15.11m, knocking off her own record of 13.79m set on Jan. 31, 2025, at the Marlin Invitational.
Zukley currently leads the league in both events while ranking fourth in the Mid-Atlantic region in weight throw and sixth in shot put.
2025-26 United East Conference Women’s Indoor Field Athletes of the Week
2025-26 United East Conference Women’s Indoor Track Athletes of the Week
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Purdue has added a young star to its 2026 roster via the transfer portal. The Boilermakers landed a commitment from former Georgia Tech outside hitter Mimi Mambu. She comes to West Lafayette with three years of eligibility remaining.
Mambu spent her freshman season with the Yellow Jackets and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. She averaged 2.923 kills per set and hit .155 for the year. The 6-foot outside hitter also totaled 48 blocks and averaged 1.067 digs per set.
“What a wonderful Christmas gift to get the commitment from a smart and dynamic student-athlete,” coach Dave Shondell said in a statement. “We’re excited to have this hard-hitting high-flyer join our team after such a strong first season at Georgia Tech where she helped lead them to an NCAA tournament appearance. We watched Mimi play in high school and knew she would be a special player. Mimi learned so much about our program from Kash [Akasha Anderson] and Isabelle Bardin who are good friends from the D.C. area.”
Welcome to West Lafayette, Lameen “Mimi” Mambu! ✍️ pic.twitter.com/JW1CDDrCRR
— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) December 28, 2025
Shondell saw Mambu up close during the 2025 season. On Sept. 3, the Boilermakers hosted Georgia Tech in the Stacey Clark Classic. The Yellow Jackets won the match 3-1, and the freshman hitter ended the evening with 10 digs and seven kills.
Georgia Tech ended the year with a 16-14 record.
Mambu will likely fill a void left by Purdue senior Akasha Anderson, who proved to be one of the top hitters last season. After transferring in from Michigan State, the senior averaged 2.911 kills per set and had a .282 hitting percentage. She only got better as the season progressed.
Mambu will join a talented and experienced roster in West Lafayette. She joins All-Big Ten selections Kenna Wollard and Grace Heaney at the pin-hitter spots. She will also be playing alongside All-Big Ten setter Taylor Anderson and All-Big Ten honorable mention libero Ryan McAleer.
Purdue closed out the 2025 season with a 27-7 record and a trip to the Regional Final round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mambu had ups and downs
As any freshman might, Mambu had some highs and lows throughout her freshman campaign. She reached a double-digit kill total in 13 of Georgia Tech’s 30 matches.
Mambu also had some off days, though. On five occasions, she ended a match with a negative hit percentage. Three of those came against Louisville, Pitt, and Purdue, all of which made deep runs into the NCAA Tournament.
Mambu is a tremendous athlete with high-flying ability and a strong arm. The biggest focus for Shondell and the Boilermakers will be to develop some consistency, but Purdue’s coaching staff has proven it can correct some of those issues.
Plus, with a full year of college volleyball now under her belt, Mambu is likely to show major improvement from her freshman to sophomore season.
Get top Boilermakers stories, expert analysis, and can’t-miss moments straight to your inbox for free by signing up for the Purdue Boilermakers on SI newsletter!
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PURDUE FRESHMAN HITS TRANSFER PORTAL: One of Purdue’s freshmen from the 2025 recruiting class entered the NCAA transfer portal and has already found a new home. CLICK HERE
Sports
Cougars come back to win Pop-Tarts Bowl 25-21 over Georgia Tech – BYU Athletics – Official Athletics Website
Fourth Quarter
On second-and-nine, Bachmeier found Roberts in a tight window for a gain of 18. Damuni added four yards, and on third down, Roberts caught a 7-yard pass to move the chains. Bachmeier and Ryan connected for the seventh time, this time for 13 yards to pin BYU at the Yellow Jacket six-yard line. After Kingston recorded a four-yard carry, Nawahine took the direct snap and plowed into the end zone. Keeping the offense on the field to go for two, Bachmier rushed it into the end zone to cut the deficit to three.
BYU forced the game’s first three-and-out. Kingston returned the punt 34 yards to set BYU up at its 45.
Bachmeier pitched to Damuni for a gain of five on first down. The freshman running back gained one yard on the next play, but the Cougars were unable to convert on third-and-four, and Vander Haar and the punting unit returned to the field, resulting in the second three-and-out of the game.
An illegal snap penalty pushed Georgia Tech back to its four-yard line. On second-and-14, King hit Rutherford for a gain of 12, and then another illegal snap penalty was enforced on the Yellow Jackets to set up third-and-seven. Haynes got just short of the line of gain before Glasker and Tanner Wall tackled him to force a punt. Kingston returned the punt four yards and set BYU up at its own 30 with 5:44 on the clock.
Following two incomplete passes, Bachmeier found Kingston at the BYU 34, and he advanced to the 43-yard line to grab the first down. Phillips secured a 14-yard pass from Bachmeier, and then Kingston caught a 15-yard pass to cap three consecutive first downs. After an eight-yard pass to Ryan to the Georgia Tech 20, the running back room led the way, kick-started by Nawahine picking up nine yards with a hurdle over a defender. Bachmeier passed to Damuni for a gain of seven, and then the Providence, Utah product powered into the end zone for his first career touchdown. Alongside Ferrin’s extra point, the Cougars took the lead, 25-21 with two minutes left.
Ferrin’s kickoff was returned 13 yards to pin Georgia Tech at its 21. Nusi Taumoepeau and Lutui hurried King and his pass fell incomplete on first down. On the next play, King lost the ball on a low snap but recovered his fumble for a loss of five yards. On third-and-15, another pass fell incomplete, forcing fourth-and-15. On the play, King went deep to Rivers for a gain of 66 at the BYU 18 with 52 seconds on the clock. The defense held the Yellow Jackets to three-straight incomplete passes, setting up fourth down with 14 seconds remaining. King attempted to hit Haynes in the end zone but his pass was intercepted by Johnson to seal the Pop Tarts Bowl victory 25-21.
The Bearkats (8-4) controlled the temp on both ends of the court, shooting close to 60 percent while limiting the Ambassadors to 31 percent. Sam Houston used its height advantage to dominate the paint, outscoring Biblical Studies 62-12 and outrebounding the Houston area team 66-29.
Isaiah Manning led the Kats with a career-high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Freshman Jacob Walker also scored a new career high with 24 points, Veljko Illic added 16 points and nine boards, freshman Matt Dann chipped in a career-high 12 points, freshman Jacoby Coleman finished with 11 and Damon Nicholas Jr. had 10.
Sam Houston built a huge first-half lead and never looked back.
The Kats went on a 10-0 run thanks to back-to-back 3s by Walker and Manning, who added a pair of layups to grab a 23-10 advantage. Dann punched in consecutive dunks after a free throw and a two more layups by Nicholas to cap the run at 19-0 to put the game away early as the Ambassadors went more than seven minutes without scoring.
Sam Houston shot a blistering 66 percent from the field in the first half, making 25 of 40 shot attempts. The Bearkats also held Biblical Studies to just 23 percent shooting to build a commanding 59-21 lead at the break.
Conference USA action resumes Jan. 2 when Sam Houston heads to Bowling Green, Kentucky to face WKU at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Dec. 28, 2025, 12:20 p.m. CT
At the end of the season, after some of the adrenaline from the Texas A&M championship run had subsided, head coach Jamie Morrison revealed that a few players on his roster would have the opportunity to compete at the next level. While he didn’t name names, we had a pretty strong idea of which standout athletes he was referring to.
On Sunday morning, it was officially announced that senior middle blocker and 2025 NCAAVB Champion Ifenna Cos-Okpalla signed a professional contract to play with League One Volleyball (LOVB) Salt Lake. She joins senior opposite Logan Lednicky in the league, who recently signed with LOVB Houston. Cos-Okpalla was also drafted by MLV but ultimately chose to pursue her career with LOVB. We knew a move was coming soon after the news broke that she had signed with Valor Sports Agency just days before this announcement.
Cos-Okpalla is one of the foundational members of this Aggie championship team, having been part of the program for all four years and choosing to stay committed when Coach Morrison arrived to take over. She elevated her game each season under his leadership, helping her reach new heights and shatter multiple program records. She will leave Texas A&M as the all-time leader in total blocks (566), the single-season block leader (199), and the program’s hitting percentage leader (.422).
It’s fair to say she will be remembered as an Aggie legend, and she now turns her focus toward new goals with a promising professional volleyball career on the horizon.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla Career stats:
Kills: 637 / 1.70 per set
Hitting %: .372
Blocks: 565 / 1.6 per set
Aces: 41 / .12 per set
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla Career Accolades:
- 2X All-SEC Team
- 4X SEC Player of the Week
- 10X SEC Defensive Player of the Week
- AVCA All-America First Team
- 2X AVCA All-Southwest Region Team
- NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team
- NCAA Champion
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.
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