A disturbing new gambling trend targeting WNBA players has emerged during the 2025 season finals, with bettors placing wagers based on predictions about athletes’ menstrual cycles. This practice, which one prominent gambler calls “blood money,” has gained traction on social media platforms despite medical experts condemning it as pseudoscientific and sexist. As the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury compete for the championship, the league faces growing concerns about athlete privacy and the ethical boundaries of sports betting.
The Rise of “Blood Money” Betting
Instagram account FadeMeBets has become the public face of menstrual cycle betting, attracting thousands of likes and shares for predictions about WNBA players’ performance based on their assumed menstrual phases. The gambler, who declined to reveal his identity, claims an 68.75% accuracy rate with 11 correct predictions out of 16 attempts. His typical videos begin with the phrase “We’ve got a victim, boys,” which he claims refers to betting lines rather than players. The American Press Institute’s research on sports betting ethics shows how such practices can cross ethical boundaries in sports journalism and coverage.
FadeMeBets acknowledges the contradictory nature of his strategy, noting that while it brings more viewers to WNBA games, “it’s usually just all gamblers.” This comes during a record-breaking season where the league announced attendance surpassing 2.5 million fans earlier this summer. The WNBA’s official attendance records confirm unprecedented viewership and engagement throughout the 2025 season. The menstrual betting phenomenon represents a dark side of this increased attention, raising questions about whether all exposure benefits the league and its athletes.
Medical Experts Debunk Cycle Prediction Claims
Sports medicine physicians have universally rejected the scientific basis for menstrual cycle betting. Dr. Amy West, a sports medicine specialist, explains that “not every woman is the same. Yes, there’s the traditional 28-day cycle, but everyone’s is different, and it varies person to person, month to month.” She characterizes the practice as “actually kind of silly” given the impossibility of accurately predicting cycles without intimate knowledge of individual athletes. The American College of Sports Medicine guidelines emphasize the individual variability in how menstrual cycles affect athletic performance.
FadeMeBets’ methodology involves classifying players as menstruating, ovulating, or in their late luteal phase—the period after ovulation and before menstruation. In one example targeting star player Caitlin Clark, he claimed she was “on the end of her late luteal phase, meaning a decrease in cardio, decrease in strength, decrease in aerobic system.” While Clark underperformed his prediction that game, medical experts note that correlation doesn’t equal causation. The British Journal of Sports Medicine research shows minimal performance differences across menstrual phases when accounting for proper training and nutrition.
WNBA’s Growth Attracts New Betting Scrutiny
The 2025 WNBA season has marked a turning point for the league’s popularity, with rising stars like Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Caitlin Clark becoming household names. This increased visibility has attracted more male viewers than female for the first time, coinciding with the explosive growth of legal sports betting across the United States. The American Gaming Association statistics show sports betting handle has increased 45% since 2023, creating new markets for unconventional wagers.
League officials face the challenge of balancing increased engagement against protecting players from invasive betting practices. While the WNBA hasn’t issued specific statements about menstrual cycle betting, the practice raises questions about whether current gambling regulations adequately protect athletes’ privacy. The ESPN coverage of WNBA growth documents how the league’s expanding audience brings both opportunities and challenges regarding athlete treatment and privacy concerns.
Ethical Implications and Future Outlook
The emergence of menstrual cycle betting represents what ethics experts describe as a new frontier in sports gambling exploitation. Unlike traditional performance metrics, menstrual tracking involves deeply personal biological data that athletes never consent to share with bettors. This practice crosses from analyzing athletic performance to speculating about intimate bodily functions, creating what critics call a fundamentally sexist approach to women’s sports. The Institute for Sports Ethics has documented how new betting markets often test the boundaries of athlete dignity and privacy.
As the WNBA continues its growth trajectory, league officials, sportsbooks, and regulators will need to address whether certain types of wagers should be prohibited to protect athletes. Some European sports authorities have already banned betting on personal athlete information, setting precedents that American leagues might follow. The combination of increased WNBA visibility and expanding sports betting markets suggests that without intervention, such invasive gambling practices could become more common, potentially undermining the league’s efforts to gain recognition based purely on athletic excellence.
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