WNBA champion New York Liberty open as 2025 title favorites
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Breanna Stewart after Liberty’s first title: ‘This is special’ (1:37)
Liberty star Breanna Stewart expresses her emotions after leading New York to its first WNBA championship. (1:37)
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Doug Greenberg, ESPNOct 21, 2024, 08:36 AM ET
It took 27 years, but the New York Liberty are finally WNBA champions. They’ll be favorites to reclaim the franchise’s second title next season.
The Liberty opened as +200 favorites to win the 2025 WNBA Finals, according to ESPN BET odds. They improved from second on last year’s odds board, where they were also +200 at open, but +245 prior to the start of the 2024 season.
This year’s runners-up, the Minnesota Lynx, check in at second with +350 odds, a vast improvement from the +5000 they showed just before the 2024 campaign tipped off. Minnesota massively defied expectations by making it to the Finals and winning the Commissioner’s Cup.
The Indiana Fever, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2016 on the back of guard Caitlin Clark’s stellar rookie campaign, are another big mover. They opened with +1000 odds to win the 2025 championship and will likely be a popular future play among the betting public.
The Las Vegas Aces, perennial favorites for the past couple of seasons after back-to-back Finals victories, fell to +400 title odds for 2025, behind New York and Minnesota; the Liberty defeated the Aces in the semifinals of the 2024 playoffs.
Indiana’s and Las Vegas’ superstars are the odds leaders in the 2025 regular-season Most Valuable Player after monumental seasons in 2024. Aces center A’ja Wilson, this season’s unanimous MVP, is the favorite to take home her fourth honor, showing +175 odds at ESPN BET.
Right behind her is Clark, the near-unanimous 2024 Rookie of the Year, who jumps up to +300 odds after going off as a +1000 underdog coming into her first season. Breanna Stewart (+500) and Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier (+700) round out the top four.
Between Clark’s immense popularity and the emergence of more storylines, the WNBA saw “unprecedented levels” of bettor interest this season, seeing over 100% year-over-year growth in the betting markets.
