Aces favored to claim WNBA championship
The Las Vegas Aces are favored to win the WNBA title, but bettors will be paying a bit of a hometown premium.
The Aces are the 3-1 favorites to win the championship in futures odds released recently by the Westgate.
Jeff Sherman, the Westgate sportsbook vice president of risk, said he rates the Aces as about equal to the Connecticut Sun, but the book knows that bettors are more likely to back the local team. So the Aces are only 3-1, while the Sun are 4-1 to win the title.
“We’re already seeing it with the Raiders and we’ve seen it with the Knights: People bet on the local team,” Sherman said.
The season starts May 15.
The Sun lost to the Washington Mystics in five games in the WNBA Finals last season and recently added three-time All-Star forward DeWanna Bonner.
The Aces lost in four games to the Mystics in the semifinals and just signed five-time All-Star forward Angel McCoughtry, a “nice addition,” Sherman said.
The Los Angeles Sparks are at +450, followed by the Phoenix Mercury at 6-1. The Mystics are expected to take a step back after guard Kristi Toliver left to sign with Los Angeles, and the defending champs are at +650 with the Seattle Storm.
There’s a big gap from those six back to the Chicago Sky at 20-1. The Sky did win a playoff game last season and have the best chance of the bottom six teams to crack into the top tier, Sherman said.
The Minnesota Lynx are 40-1 with star Maya Moore set to skip another season.
Rounding out the field are the Indiana Fever (50-1), New York Liberty (50-1), Dallas Wings (100-1) and Atlanta Dream (100-1).
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.