Minnesota Lynx, Favorites in the WNBA Playoffs, with the Shadow of the Champions
The Minnesota Lynx are presented as the favorites to conquer the WNBA championship this postseason. However, they will have to be attentive to their rivals, especially the two teams that have dominated the league recently. According to bookmakers, Minnesota is the main candidate to obtain its first title since 2017, with odds of +110 on ESPN BET. The Las Vegas Aces, in excellent form, present odds of +260, while the current champions, the New York Liberty, have +350. The distance is considerable to the third seed, the Atlanta Dream, with +1000. This is the first time the Lynx enter the postseason as favorites since the Maya Moore era, the last time they led the betting odds in the regular season was in 2018. The Aces experienced a remarkable rise in the betting odds thanks to their 16-game winning streak at the end of the regular season. Initially, Becky Hammon’s team had odds of +400 to win the title, but after a slow start, they fell to +3000 in mid-August. However, their final performance pushed them above the Liberty after the last day of the regular season. The excellent performance of Las Vegas also increased A’ja Wilson’s chances of winning the MVP award, surpassing Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. On August 3, Collier was the favorite with -1100, while Wilson had 100-1, but at the close of the market, Wilson became the big favorite with -700 and Collier was at +500. In general, the bookmakers were aware of Las Vegas’s potential, which allowed them to properly manage the bets for themselves and the other two main contenders.Betting houses were also boosted by the public’s great interest in Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, who now face 100-1 odds to win the title after Clark was ruled out with a groin injury for the rest of the year. Indiana will also be without Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald, among others, for the postseason. Despite this, ESPN BET reports that 27.1% of their tickets and 31.2% of their handle in the championship market back the Fever. The only concern that the betting houses have is with the Golden State Valkyries, who made history by reaching the playoffs in their first season as an expansion team. They face a great challenge with odds of 100-1 and a first-round matchup against Minnesota, but bettors love the stories of the underdogs.I think the winner will come from those three teams. In these playoff games, those teams will be big favorites. Personally, we are in good shape with those three teams. The betting team did a good job monitoring future bets during the year.
Johnny Avello, director of sports betting at DraftKings
In general, the 2025 season represented another solid season for WNBA betting, as the league continues to grow, a clear indicator of the Clark effect, whether she can compete for the title this season or not.Outside of the top three, the Valkyries drew interest in their debut season, as they far exceeded expectations. Although only 2% of the handle is in Golden State, they are one of our biggest responsibilities given their higher odds in the futures market.
Adrian Horton, Senior Director of Sports Operations at ESPN BET North America
Unfortunately, Caitlin Clark missed most of the regular season due to an injury. That didn’t stop bettors from wagering on the WNBA. We saw more action in the league this season than before Clark joined the league. With significant action on the Fever, the sportsbook feels comfortable with the Lynx, Aces, or Liberty winning the WNBA Championship.
Christian Cipollini, Senior Manager of Operations at BetMGM
