{"id":210380,"date":"2025-10-13T17:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/210380\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:55:09","slug":"wnba-fans-react-in-disgust-to-news-that-men-are-betting-on-players-menstrual-cycles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/210380\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA fans react in disgust to news that men are betting on players\u2019 menstrual cycles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a trend dubbed \u201cdemeaning\u201d by women\u2019s basketball fans, some sports bettors are attempting to forecast WNBA players\u2019<\/a> performances by tracking the athletes\u2019 menstrual cycles.<\/a><\/p>\n

The tactic is based off the assumption that female players perform worse while on their periods.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For example, in a clip about New York Liberty<\/a> player Breanna Stewart posted in September, FadeMeBets encouraged people to bet on her scoring less than 20.5 points and assists because she was \u201cin her late luteal phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The late luteal phase is the final part of the menstrual cycle \u2014 typically the few days just before a person\u2019s period begins.<\/p>\n

\"WNBA<\/p>\n

WNBA fans are \u2018horrified\u2019 by men betting on athelete\u2019s menstrual cycles (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe gets decreased strength, she gets decreased endurance. That\u2019s going to hurt her in her points and assists\u2026She will no longer get the benefit of passing the ball in transitions, because she\u2019ll be too tired to run down the court fast,\u201d FadeMeBets says in the video.<\/p>\n

He refers to this betting tactic as \u201cblood money\u201d and claims he\u2019s been correct on 11 out of 16 of his period-related predictions.<\/p>\n

On social media, WNBA fans reacted in horror to the trend, which was highlighted by Wired<\/a> magazine over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cMales betting on WNBA players’ menstrual cycles…. just when I thought males couldn’t get any lower,\u201d one person wrote on X. \u201cThese are not men, these are males. yuck. Have ya\u2019ll no shame?\u201d<\/p>\n

The story also gained a foothold on Reddit<\/a>, where one person asked: \u201cBesides just being a gross and demeaning thing to do how would they even know something that personal?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHint: women aren\u2019t horses,\u201d wrote another in response to a comment suggesting the tactic was statistical, like \u201cbetting on horse or company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not taking bets on whether or not these are the same men who get super pissed off when you bring up toxic masculinity,\u201d quipped another.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Wired<\/a>, FadeMeBets, who declined to be named, confessed that predicting how players perform during their periods is not based on science.<\/p>\n

His theory involves looking at WNBA players\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s kind of good, but also kind of bad, is it brings more people to watch the WNBA, but, on the downside of that, it\u2019s usually just all gamblers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Amy West, a sports medicine physician, poured cold water on the tipster\u2019s methodology. \u201cNot 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,\u201d she told Wired.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone being able to predict that? Someone who’s not very close to the menstruating person? It\u2019s actually kind of silly.\u201d<\/p>\n