WNBA: News, Notes and Future Odds

If you haven't been paying attention to the WNBA, it's time that you checked it out. It's an exciting league and the quality of the basketball will surprise you. Personally, I'm watching more games than ever. So far, it's translated to success at the betting window. I'm thankful to be enjoying a very solid season. Now that we're into the second half, I thought it'd be a good time to catch up on some current league trends, stats and stories. I've also identified a couple of longshot future betting opportunities, which you may want to take a look at. 

Expansion
In term of popularity, the WNBA is bigger than ever. Last year smashed records for ticket sales and TV viewership. While the recent All Star game didn't have as big an audience as last season, that was likely largely due with the absence of Caitlin Clark. Like her or not, as the face of the league, Clark gets people watching (and betting on) games. Soon the league will be bigger, too. Last month, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the WNBA would expand into three more cities in the next five years. Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia will all be getting teams. 

ATS And O/U Standings
Minnesota (21-4) has the best overall record. New York has the best record in the Eastern Conference; the Liberty are 16-6. However, they haven't been able to consistently cover the larger pointspreads which they're seeing, as the defending champions. As a matter of fact, the Liberty are only 10-11-1 ATS, just 47%. (That's after four straight ATS wins by the Liberty, too. The champs were previously only 6-11-1 ATS!) Leading the Western Conference, the Lynx have covered the spread 60% ATS of the time. The Golden State Valkyries are right behind them with a 59% ATS record. Speaking of the Valkyries, they've seen 64% of their games finish below the number. Conversely, the LA Sparks have seen 68% of their games go over the total. I've provided the current the standings below, including ATS and O/U records, highlighting records of significance.

EASTERN CONFERENCE (W/L | PCT | ATS | O/U )
NY | 16-6 | .727 | 10-11-1 | 12-10-0
ATL | 14-10 | .583 | 13-11-0 | 13-10-1
IND | 12-11 | .500 | 11-13-0 | 12-12-0
WAS | 11-12 | .478 | 11-12-0 | 10-12-1
CHI | 7-16 | .304 | 12-11-0 | 13-9-1
CON | 3-19 | .136 | 11-11-0 | 10-11-1

WESTERN CONFERENCE (W/L | PCT | ATS | O/U)
MIN | 21-4 | .840 | 15-10-0 | 12-13-0
PHO | 15-8 | .652 | 13-10-0 | 12-10-1
SEA | 14-10 | .583 | 12-12-0 | 12-12-0
LV | 12-11 | .522 | 9-14-0 | 10-13-0
GS | 10-12 | .455 | 13-9-0 | 8-14-0
LA | 9-14 | .391 | 9-13-1 | 15-7-1
DAL | 7-17 | .291 | 11-13-0 | 13-11

WNBA CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS (Courtesy of Draft Kings as of Thursday, July 24)
Even if you don't bet on any of them to win the title, its helpful to know what the markets currently think teams' chances of doing so are. The Lynx may have the best overall record but the Liberty are still favored to repeat as champions. At +150 and +200, there's no value in either one of those teams though. At +1800, the Aces could be worth a look. Remember, the Aces won the title in both 2022 and 2023. They opened the season at around +400. The Dream, currently at +2500, are another interesting team. Second in the East in the standings, they're capable on offense and stingy on defense. 

Liberty +150
Lynx +200
Mercury +650
Fever +850
Aces +1800
Storm +2500
Dream +2500
Valkyries +8000
Mystics +20000
Sparks +30000
Wings +40000
Sky +50000
Sun +75000

ATS Trends 

Home and road teams have nearly identical against the spread records. Underdogs have enjoyed a slight advantage. Home underdogs have enjoyed a very modest amount of success going 31-26 ATS, good for 54.4%. Otherwise, things have been very "equal."

Road Teams | 75-76-1 | 49.7%
Home Teams | 76-75-1 | 50.3%
Favorites | 71-80-1 | 47.0%
Dogs | 80-71-1 | 53.0%
Away Favorites | 26-31-0 | 45.6%
Away Dogs | 49-45-1 | 52.1%
Home Favorites | 45-49-1 | 47.9%
Home Dogs | 31-26-0 | 54.4%