The Next: More eyes, more odds
- Sophie Norris
- Oct 23
- 5 min read
THE NEXT is a new monthly podcast from The Female Athlete Project.
Each episode, futurist and former athlete Reanna Browne joins Chloe and Bez to explore what’s changing in women’s sport, before it hits the headlines. We shine a light on the pockets of the future already here - the signals of change that are quietly [or not-so-quietly] reshaping women's sport in the present. Not to predict what’s coming, but to notice what’s already in motion.
Meet Futurist Reanna Browne
Reanna Browne is a globally recognised, academically trained Futurist with a Master of Strategic Foresight. She helps organisations spot signals, make sense of change, and act decisively in the present.
“I always describe part of my work as helping people make sense of what's changing and to challenge how they think about the future in the first place.”
Most of the time, when we think about the future, we think of it as something that’s out there and down the track, and we plan and act for it in that way. But the future never arrives because we’re always in the present.
“My work is about shaping a good present. What we do today matters. When we change how we think of the future, we change how we act in the present.”
Future Facts
There are no future facts. That is, there is no matter of fact that something will definitely occur in the future, because the future hasn’t happened.
“What we’re talking about is our ideas and images of a time later than now. The only bit of data we have is things that’ve happened in the past around sport, things that are happening now and how we think about how things will happen.”
Rea is a former Australian cricketer. She represented Queensland in 21 List A matches in the Women's National Cricket League, between 2002-2008. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine 80,000 fans turning out for a women’s cricket game.
In 2020, 86,174 fans turned out for the T20 World Cup Final between Australia and India at the MCG. It remains the largest crowd for a women's sporting event in Australia and the highest crowd figure for a women's cricket match globally.
That happened because people started to challenge what the future of women’s sport could look like. It just goes to show that our images of the future shape what is possible.
“My job is to help people make sense of what’s changing now. What are the changes happening at the edge of today? And how can we widen the choices available to us now?”
What is Rea noticing? More eyes = more odds
“Gambling is shifting to something that is part of the sporting infrastructure, and women’s sport is the new frontier of that.”
Here are 5 signals [pockets of this future in the present] that Rea is noticing:
Sports betting, a new normal
"The normalisation of sports betting in this country [Australia] is quite profound. Statistically, Australians are the world’s biggest gamblers per capita."
2/3 kids aged 8-16 know at least one sports betting brand
30% of 12-17-year-olds have gambled
1/3 of Victorians are sports betters
Outside of Australia, global markets are also becoming more open to the idea of sports betting. Since the landmark 2018 Supreme Court decision overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the legal landscape of sports betting in the United States has dramatically shifted, and it is now legal in 38 states.
In some cases, betting is even becoming embedded in sporting organisations’ business models. In fact, some sports codes get a cut of every bet on their games.
Women's sports are becoming betting content
“Alongside the rising visibility of women's sport, we’re seeing record levels of sports betting investment in women’s sports.”
WNBA betting up 150% in 2024 [According to ESPN BET]
During the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, we saw the 3rd biggest bet on a soccer competition of the year behind the Men’s World Cup and the English Premier League.
Women are the new growth market of betters
In the US, female sign-ups rose 115% year-on-year in 2021, outpacing men. The target market for sports betting advertising has also shifted.
“Women themselves in ads have moved from being a decorative object to an expert at the desk. Now they’re not only there as betters, but you can see them on the desk talking about odds.”
Betting companies are also using fantasy sports platforms as a gateway to sports betting.
81% of fantasy players also bet.
In the Women’s Super League (Football) Fantasy competition, approximately 75% of users are women.
“When the fantasy product is built around women's sport, women become the primary users. And we know that fantasy sport is the gateway into sports betting.”
Athletes' bodies are becoming data points
Micro-betting is becoming more mainstream, with more users betting mid-game or on specific players' statistics rather than just results.
“We know that sport itself has been quantified, but so are athletes and their bodies. We measure sweat, menstrual cycles, sleep, everything. And that’s now becoming a betting product.”
EXAMPLE: Over $100,000 has been paid out to players since the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and global technology provider Sports Data Labs first began commercialising physiological data to increase revenue for PSA’s athletes at the beginning of the 2018-19 PSA World Tour season.
“Women's sport has lagged so far behind in technology and access to resourcing, for us to get access to that data and then be sold for the purpose of betting, that feels disheartening." - Chloe Dalton
5. The Backlash builds
Athletes are facing growing harms when it comes to betting.
1 in 3 US college athletes receive gambling threats
Women face 3x more abuse than men
Various studies also show elite athletes are statistically up to six times more likely to be at risk of gambling-related harm.
“A lot of the hook around sports betting is the assumption of skill, and that’s why athletes themselves have an increased risk of harm from sports betting.”
This comes as there is often some uniqueness about the experience of sport, and athletes may believe that because they are already in the sports setting, their skill is high in that area.
“An elite athlete is always looking for a high of some description, and if that’s not being found in a place of competition on the field, perhaps it’s being found in the rush of a big bet.” Bez Morton
Besides the increased risk of harm, the cultural pushback on gambling is also growing.
Some players are rejecting certain sponsorships, while in Victoria, more than 500 clubs have pledged to say no to sports betting sponsorship through the ‘Love the Game, Not the Odds’ Program.
Now what?
“For men's sports, it’s a different conversation; it [gambling] is so entangled, but for women’s sport, I think we’re at the threshold.
We’ve got this window where we can make very resilient and intentional choices based on the future of women's sports that we want to inhabit. Those small little considerations are what will shape the future of women’s sports.”
What's the most resilient thing that we can do today?
Comments