Minnesota Lynx, Favorites for the WNBA Championship, But with Rivals in Sight
The Minnesota Lynx are presented as the favorites to win the WNBA championship in the playoffs, but they will have to be attentive to the two teams that have recently dominated the league. According to bookmakers, Minnesota is the main candidate to win the title, offering odds of +110 on ESPN BET. The Las Vegas Aces, with an impressive streak, have odds of +260, while the current champions, the New York Liberty, are at +350. Behind them, the Atlanta Dream, seeded in third place, have odds of +1000. This will be the first time the Lynx will face the postseason as favorites since they won their last title in the Maya Moore era in 2017. The last time they were favorites during the regular season was in 2018, the last year of the career of Moore, a Hall of Famer. The Aces, for their part, experienced a notable rise in the betting odds thanks to their 16-game winning streak at the end of the regular season. At the beginning of the campaign, Becky Hammon’s team had odds of +400 to win the title, but in mid-August, after a slow start to the season, they fell to +3000. However, the Aces’ final performance propelled them above the Liberty after the last day of the regular season. The success of Las Vegas also boosted A’ja Wilson’s chances of winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award over Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. On August 3, Collier was the heavy favorite at -1100, while Wilson was at 100-1, but at the close of the market, Wilson was the heavy favorite at -700 and Collier was at +500. In general, bookmakers were aware of Las Vegas’s potential, which allowed them to properly manage bets both on it and on the other two main contenders.Betting houses also increased their responsibility in the championship due to the public’s great interest in Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, who now face odds of 100-1 to win the championship after Clark was ruled out for the rest of the year due to a groin injury. Indiana will also miss Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald, among others, for the playoff race. Despite this, ESPN BET reports that 27.1% of their tickets and a notable 31.2% of their handle in the championship market back the Fever. The only responsibility that the betting houses generally 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 tough task with odds of 100-1 and a first-round matchup against Minnesota, but bettors clearly adore the underdog story. “Outside of the top three, the Valkyries sparked interest in their debut season, as they far exceeded expectations,” said Adrian Horton, senior director of North American sports operations for ESPN BET, via email. “While only 2% of the bet is on Golden State, they are one of our biggest liabilities given their higher odds in the futures market.” In general, 2025 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. “Unfortunately, Caitlin Clark missed most of the regular season due to an injury. That didn’t stop bettors from wagering on the WNBA,” said Christian Cipollini, senior manager of operations at BetMGM, in a statement. “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.”“I think the winner will come from those three teams,” commented Johnny Avello, director of DraftKings Sportsbook. “When you analyze the playoff games, those teams will be big favorites. So, personally, we are in good shape in the future with those three teams. Good job by the betting team monitoring the futures during the year.”
Johnny Avello, director of DraftKings Sportsbook
