NORTH AMERICA
Bet like a lady:
Valeria Martinez on growing a female bettors’ community
Women’ s sports betting is growing fast, but are iGaming affiliates doing enough to support female gamblers? Valeria Martinez tells Joyce Yang why she launched the Betting Ladies community and the challenges she’ s faced along the way
Betting lady Valeria Martinez 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 – she placed her first bet while at the races 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.
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 had enough. She decided to plunge fully 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
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