The Las Vegas Aces and the Chicago Sky were installed as co-title favorites after battling to identical regular-season records, but the public has been heavily backing the Aces since Las Vegas secured the No. 1 seed.
Both teams finished the regular season with 26-10 records, with the Aces earning the top playoff seed courtesy of a tiebreaker with their victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday. The defending champion Sky had to settle for the No. 2 seed.
BetMGM oddsmakers saw them as equal threats to win the 2022 WNBA championship, installing them as co-favorites at +210 on Monday morning. However, Las Vegas’ odds had shortened to +135 by Monday evening while the Sky’s had lengthened to +250.
The Aces are also the favorites at DraftKings, where they are being offered at +115 ahead of the Sky (+230).
The Sky opened the season at +325 at BetMGM while the Aces opened at +300. With the Aces leading the sportsbook with 16.4 percent of the total bets to win the title and 22.8 percent of the handle, they are BetMGM’s third biggest liability.
That is behind the New York Liberty and the Washington Mystics. The Liberty (16-20) claimed the No. 7 seed and will open the playoffs against the Sky. New York has been backed by 8.9 percent of the bets and 8.8 percent of the handle, according to BetMGM.
The Phoenix Mercury (15-21) didn’t secure the final playoff spot until shortly before tip-off to their 15-point loss to the Sky on Sunday. Phoenix will face Las Vegas in the first round with the Mercury backed by only 2.5 percent of the title handle and 7.1 percent of the total bets.
The Mystics are the second biggest liability for BetMGM entering the playoffs, backed by 13.9 percent of the total bets – second most at the sportsbook – and 10.4 percent of the handle. Washington has seen its title odds slashed in half from +2200 to +1100 while finishing fifth with a 22-14 regular-season record.
They will open a highly-anticipated first-round series against Seattle on Thursday. The Storm also finished 22-14 as they attempt to claim another title in Sue Bird’s final season. Seattle has been backed by 9.3 percent of the bets and 10.2 percent of the handle.
The other first-round matchup will pit the third-seeded Connecticut Sun (25-11) against the No. 6 seed Dallas Wings (18-18).
Connecticut opened the season at +350 but has seen those odds lengthen to +500 while drawing 8.8 percent of the bets. The Sun are second with 18.4 percent of the handle. The Wings enter as +5000 long shots and have been backed by only 3.1 and 2.0 percent of the action, respectively.
WNBA Title Odds (BetMGM)
Las Vegas Aces +135
Chicago Sky +250
Seattle Storm +500
Connecticut Sun +500
Washington Mystics +1100
New York Liberty +5000
Dallas Wings +5000
Phoenix Mercury +8000
–Field Level Media
