Betting Odds: Women’s World Cup; Attendance & Instagram Followers Soar

Spain is 1.80 to win the tournament at BetMGM Sportsbook

The Women’s World Cup is into the semi-final matches, with the final scheduled for this Sunday at 6 a.m. ET.

Leading up to the final, Spain this week defeated Sweden 2-1. On Wednesday, starting at 6 a.m. ET, home team Australia takes on England in the other semi.

Betting Odds

Early this week, BetMGM Sportsbook has had the odds for Wednesday’s match at Australia 3.20, England 2.30 and Draw 3.10.

In total, 52% of bets are on England, 15% on a draw and 33% on Australia. Fifty-six per cent of the handle is on England, 17% on a draw, 27% on Australia.

In futures betting, Spain is at 1.80 to win the tournament, England is at 3.00 and Australia is at 4.75, according to BetMGM.

Attendance Near 2 Million Mark

With sports betting and fan enthusiasm driving a lot of interest, the U.S. squad pushed up TV ratings. Nearly 6.43 million people watched the U.S. team’s 1-1 draw with Netherlands in the group stage, according to a story in Forbes. That was the most-watched group stage match in FIFA World Cup history for an English-language broadcast (this year on Fox Sports).

Attendance is another focus, as people are curious about the level of interest in the event, held this time in Australia and New Zealand.

On Monday, FIFA said 1.77 million tickets have been sold for the tournament. FIFA had sold over 1 million tickets six weeks before the event started (with an expanded 32-team, 64-match format). Attendance for the first 61 games is 1,777,245, with three games to go. That final on Sunday at Stadium Australia will draw over 75,000.

In Australia’s opening match against Ireland, the home team drew 75,784 – almost 92 per cent capacity. According to FIFA, across the 10 venues in both countries, average attendance has been 28,900. That’s more than 7,000 above the average from the Paris Women’s World Cup in 2019. It’s more than 4,000 above the historical average at the eight previous women’s tournaments. 

These attendance figures indicate fan interest and wagering opportunities such as live betting are on the upswing.

Alisha Lehmann Tops In Instagram Followers

And social media? No one can touch the numbers of Switzerland’s Alisha Lehmann.

The Aston Villa forward has 14.8 million Instagram followers, which will no doubt be boosted by the overall attention the Women’s World Cup is generating.

The USA’s Alex Morgan has a massive social media following as well – 10.2 million Instagram followers.

Spain’s Alexia Putellas is at three million Instagram followers – likely to keep rising leading up the Sunday’s match. The USA’s Megan Rapinoe is currently at 2.1 million Instagram followers.