While the gambling industry tends to feel male-dominated, women’s sports betting is growing fast. But are igaming affiliates doing enough to support female gamblers? We spoke to Valeria Martinez about why she launched the Betting Ladies community and the challenges she's faced along the way.
Betting lady Valeria Martinez (below) has always had an adventurous spirit. Her entrepreneurial journey began back in her university years in Italy, where she launched a jewellery business, sourcing production from China and India. After graduating, she moved to London to build a career in finance and insurance, where she remained for the next 15 years.
A European soccer fan living in a city with more than 800 betting shops, it was only natural for Martinez to get into sports betting – her first bet was placed at the races while at Ascot. Seven years ago, she accepted a job offer at the multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs and moved to California just as sports betting was being legalised in the US.
I know people who created fake accounts as men because if they shared an opinion about sports betting as women, they wouldn’t be taken seriously
The balmy breeze of the southern coast soon made Martinez a fan of LA Galaxy and, more recently Inter Miami CF. However, coming from Europe where gambling is "more widely accepted and legalised," she found the male-dominated and conservative culture of the US betting space frustrating.
“Women are not entirely welcome in existing betting communities. I know people who created fake accounts as men because if they shared an opinion about sports betting as women, they wouldn’t be taken seriously,” she recalls. “Even in the few states where it was legal, the female population wasn't really being addressed. So I was watching it quite closely, waiting for someone to cater for female bettors.”
But no one did. By 2023, Martinez had enough. She decided to fully plunge into the igaming industry, launching the Betting Ladies affiliate site along with a women-only forum. The response was overwhelming. Female bettors flocked to the platform, many offering to contribute written reviews and video content. In just a year and a half, the Betting Ladies community has grown to nearly 2,000 members.
“We had a pretty good run at the beginning. People really embraced the concept of Betting Ladies, which helped amplify the message,” she says.
Bet like a lady
Martinez’s brand slogan is “Bet like a lady”, a phrase that “came naturally” to her. As she explains in her affiliate site’s blog, “It’s a playful and light-hearted way of saying, ‘I bet on sports, and I do it my way’”. But she highlights that female bettors’ essential needs are no different from their male counterparts – to gamble and win.
“They need to understand how sportsbooks work, what the odds mean, what types of bets are best for their budget and risk level, and, of course, how to gamble responsibly – like managing their bankroll,” Martinez notes. “What we do differently is skip the jargon. This industry loves making things unnecessarily complicated, making it impossible for beginners to know where to start. We make it fun and approachable.”
In the NFL, half of its viewership is female. So, translating those viewers into gamblers will take time, but it is happening
That said, women’s betting trends do differ from men's. Martinez notes that traditionally, women are primarily casino players. In the UK, for example, a YouGov survey found female gamblers are three times more likely than males to engage in bingo and keno and twice as likely to purchase online scratch cards. However, sports betting among women has risen significantly from 17% of UK female gamblers in 2021 to 30% in 2023.
“We’re seeing a change in the industry – more and more women are embracing sports betting. In the NFL, half of its viewership is female. So, translating those viewers into gamblers will take time, but it is happening. A lot of our community members are NFL bettors, and they don’t just bet on the Super Bowl, which is the main event. They bet every week on their teams,” says Martinez.
Women are proving to some to be better bettors than men in the US. A study by 888 Holdings conducted in New Jersey found that female bettors saw average returns of almost 20% on their sports wagers, while men lost an average of nearly 5%. According to Martinez, women’s inclination toward strategic thinking and aversion to risk means they approach gambling with “a more calculated mindset,” analysing odds more carefully.
Martinez has also optimised the site’s design, tailoring it to female bettors’ aesthetics rather than a more traditional affiliate. While it features bonuses and guides typical of a traditional affiliate site, Betting Ladies has the look and feel of a glossy fashion magazine, especially on the homepage with images of women taking focus rather than brands. The site even includes horoscope and tarot readings, helping users decide what to bet on.
“We thought there was a natural connection between predicting the future and placing a bet – so it was a fun, playful way to bring in new users and connect with those who never bet before,” she says.
We are an online community for women, by women. That’s our model, and that’s also what makes us unique
Betting Ladies community
The US igaming market has been notoriously difficult for affiliates recently, with affiliates like XLMedia exiting the landscape last year and Better Collective struggling in the market. However, Martinez plays down the challenge and says her brand’s text-based online community gives it a special advantage in de-risking from market changes.
“We are an online community for women, by women. That’s our model, and that’s also what makes us unique. Our goal is to become the go-to destination for female gamblers, a place where they can find answers, connect with like-minded people and get support without judgment,” Martinez says.
In addition, Martinez runs various social accounts featuring meme-style video clips and betting tutorials. One popular Instagram reel, for instance, shows us the AI-generated version of her dream retirement life – collecting a mountain of coins from a slot machine (below). She also signed a deal with the social betting marketplace BettorEdge to provide training videos and content for its users.
“We love sharing those little funny videos, but they are not about sports betting strategies. All the serious activities happen within the online community, which is our main channel,” she adds.
To drive engagement, Martinez regularly posts discussion questions such as “What are you betting on?” in the group chat, encouraging bettors to share their experiences. She has also partnered with sportsbooks to provide special bonuses for members. Recently, the Betting Ladies community has begun organising physical meet-ups, too. Last December, Martinez and her team were invited to the DraftKings headquarters to present a "Sports Betting 101" session for the operator’s female employees.
This year, her focus is on improving the community’s user experience. The current discussion channel, built on the Mighty Networks app, is separate from the affiliate site. Though using a third-party discussion platform helped in the early days, Martinez finds it “annoying to have to log in elsewhere”.
“We are launching a new version of the site and the Betting Ladies community will be integrated within it. It's a lot of work, and we have been working on it for months, but we want to make things smoother and meet higher expectations,” she says. “Based on members’ feedback, we’re also adding casino and sweepstakes sections to the site and publishing videos on how to bet on them.”
More industry support
Despite the unwavering support from female bettors, Martinez recalls that her “biggest challenge was getting partnerships” at the beginning: “No one knew who we were. The concept of Betting Ladies didn’t exist – there was nothing for women.”
They need to stop just talking about women in a token way. Producing content about women’s sports and battles every now and then isn’t enough
Although Martinez has seen progress in the igaming sector recently, noting that “women-led initiatives and companies are getting funded” more, she believes the industry still needs to do better at supporting both female players and entrepreneurs. To this day, Betting Ladies’ videos still attract comments like “Women shouldn’t talk about UFC”.
One thing Martinez believes affiliates can do is to have better moderation in their forums, requiring users to log in with real names to “reduce toxic behaviours”. She also argues that brands should aim to be more trustworthy and stop treating female-oriented content as an afterthought.
“I think they need to stop just talking about women in a token way. Producing content about women’s sports and battles every now and then isn’t enough. They need to be believable, non-judgmental and actually make an effort,” she says. “But I think it’s very difficult because all the strategies and content are started by a bunch of men. So maybe the gambling industry needs to hire more women at the top, too.”
The next challenge Martinez faces is scaling up. The Betting Ladies community has grown organically, relying on word-of-mouth and search traffic rather than paid ads. Martinez has secured a few interviews with sports media outlets, too, and she is planning to double down on PR strategies. While investors have shown interest, Martinez believes it’s still too early to bring them in.
“Betting Ladies is all self-funded. I think a lot of start-ups try to scale up too fast. When it’s your own money, you’ve got to be more careful of how you expand, which I think is good for us,” she explains.
With organic growth and high engagement, Betting Ladies is proving women’s strong demand for betting options. For Martinez, her brand is not only a business but also a passion for carving out a dedicated space for women in gambling. In 2025, she remains committed to ensuring even more join her community to “bet like a lady”.
Recently, Game Lounge COO Rosi Bremec wrote for iGBA on how igaming affiliates can break down the gender divide to help employees build careers based on merit and talent.