Betting sites lean on pop culture and ‘girl math’ to lure female users

The gambling industry is increasingly using memes, girl-boss messaging and celebrity-centric prediction markets to court female audiences, with platforms such as Kalshi offering bets on Timothée Chalamet’s possible engagement to Kylie Jenner or the wearer of Victoria’s Secret’s Fantasy Bra. Analysts argue that these offerings are presented as investment tools, yet they rely on cognitive distortions like the illusion of control, encouraging users to underestimate risk.

A TikTok promoter even brands Kalshi as “for the girls,” while critics accuse the approach of exploiting women’s desire for financial empowerment. In Spain, the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling reports a 23.53% rise in female online gamblers, now totaling about 64,000 new women participants, and the Ministry of Social Rights has initiated sanction proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket for lacking required licences. Experts caution that despite the veneer of expertise and data, the odds remain stacked against bettors, and the platforms function as high-risk speculative tools rather than genuine investment avenues.