A shocking and deeply controversial trend has taken over parts of the sports betting world — and WNBA fans are furious.
According to a report by Wired, some male bettors are now attempting to predict WNBA player performance based on menstrual cycles, claiming hormonal changes affect athletic ability. The trend, led by an anonymous betting tipster who goes by “FadeMeBets”, has been dubbed “blood money” online — a term that many fans find both disturbing and demeaning.
FadeMeBets, who boasts nearly 30,000 Instagram followers, encourages gamblers to “take the under” on players supposedly nearing their periods. In one viral clip, he cited New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, claiming she was in her “late luteal phase” and would score fewer points due to fatigue — a claim he admits is not based on science.
Fans quickly condemned the trend across social media platforms.
> “Males betting on WNBA players’ menstrual cycles… just when I thought they couldn’t get any lower,” one fan wrote on X.
Another user fumed:
> “Women aren’t horses. Stop treating athletes like lab experiments.”
Experts also dismissed the approach as pseudoscience. Dr. Amy West, a sports medicine physician, noted that menstrual cycles vary greatly between individuals, making such predictions “silly and baseless.”
While the tipster claims his methods attract new viewers to the league, fans argue it’s for all the wrong reasons. The controversy has reignited broader conversations about respect, consent, and the objectification of women athletes in modern sports culture.
