WNBA fans react in disgust to news that men are betting on players’ menstrual cycles

In a trend dubbed “demeaning” by women’s basketball fans, some sports bettors are attempting to forecast WNBA players’ performances by tracking the athletes’ menstrual cycles.

The tactic is based off the assumption that female players perform worse while on their periods.

On Instagram, an anonymous betting tipster named FadeMeBets advises his 29,000 followers to take the under on players based on their alleged ovulation cycles.

For example, in a clip about New York Liberty player Breanna Stewart posted in September, FadeMeBets encouraged people to bet on her scoring less than 20.5 points and assists because she was “in her late luteal phase.”

The late luteal phase is the final part of the menstrual cycle — typically the few days just before a person’s period begins.

“She gets decreased strength, she gets decreased endurance. That’s going to hurt her in her points and assists…She will no longer get the benefit of passing the ball in transitions, because she’ll be too tired to run down the court fast,” FadeMeBets says in the video.

He refers to this betting tactic as “blood money” and claims he’s been correct on 11 out of 16 of his period-related predictions.

On social media, WNBA fans reacted in horror to the trend, which was highlighted by Wired magazine over the weekend.

“Males betting on WNBA players' menstrual cycles.... just when I thought males couldn't get any lower,” one person wrote on X. “These are not men, these are males. yuck. Have ya’ll no shame?”

The story also gained a foothold on Reddit, where one person asked: “Besides just being a gross and demeaning thing to do how would they even know something that personal?”

“Hint: women aren’t horses,” wrote another in response to a comment suggesting the tactic was statistical, like “betting on horse or company.”

“I’m not taking bets on whether or not these are the same men who get super pissed off when you bring up toxic masculinity,” quipped another.

Speaking to Wired, FadeMeBets, who declined to be named, confessed that predicting how players perform during their periods is not based on science.

His theory involves looking at WNBA players’ field goal percentage, which measures how efficient a shooter is, and their plus/minus, which measures their impact on the team when on and off the court. He also analyzes their WNBA history and even their college careers, tracking stats over the course of a 24 to 38-day menstrual cycle.

He then looks at highs and lows throughout the month-long cycle, with the assumption being that if a player misses a lot of baskets, she could be in the late luteal phase of her period. However, FadeMeBets has never directly asked players about their menstrual cycles.

“What’s kind of good, but also kind of bad, is it brings more people to watch the WNBA, but, on the downside of that, it’s usually just all gamblers,” he said.

Amy West, a sports medicine physician, poured cold water on the tipster’s methodology. “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 by month,” she told Wired.

“Someone being able to predict that? Someone who's not very close to the menstruating person? It’s actually kind of silly.”