Ahead of Sunday’s first game of the 2021 WNBA Finals, one regulated sportsbook has WNBA Finals MVP futures available in three of its active markets. Most other regulated US sportsbooks are offering lines on the best-of-five series, too.
The consensus is that the Phoenix Mercury will ultimately prevail over the Chicago Sky in their best-of-five championship matchup. Most sportsbooks are pretty uniform on the odds as well.
BetRivers customers in three states can stake WNBA Finals MVP futures
BetRivers Sportsbook has the market available for bettors in Colorado, Illinois, and Michigan currently. It’s uncertain whether the sportsbook intends to offer the action in its other states.
Currently, Phoenix center Brittney Griner and Mercury guard Diana Taurasi are the odds-on co-favorites at +300. The Chicago player with the shortest odds is forward Candace Parker at +400. The rest of the field looks like this right now:
- Kahleah Copper +450
- Skylar Diggins-Smith +1000
- Courtney Vandersloot +1400
- Allie Quigley +2000
- Shey Peddy +5000
- Diamond DeShields +6000
- Brianna Turner +10000
- Azurá Stevens +15000
The series starts on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. ET from the Footprint Center. Fans can watch the game on ABC. BetRivers customers in other markets and bettors who prefer other sports betting apps in CO, IL, and MI can get in on futures for which team will win three games in the matchup.
Lines on the series nearly uniform right now
Phoenix is currently the consensus favorite to win its fourth WNBA title. Appropriately enough, the last time the Mercury won a championship was over the Sky in 2014. That year, Phoenix swept Chicago in three games.
No US-regulated sportsbooks have markets on how many games this series will last, but there’s nearly a consensus on the odds for the series among major US sports betting apps. The following sportsbooks have the Mercury at -125 and the Sky +105 to win this series:
- BetMGM Sportsbook
- Caesars Sportsbook
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- FanDuel Sportsbook
Another common line shared by several operators requires you to pay more to buy on Phoenix and gives you a potential bettor reward if you stake Chicago. These sportsbooks have the Mercury -132 and Chicago +110:
- BetAmerica Sportsbook
- BetRivers Sportsbook
- PlaySugarHouse Sportsbook
- TwinSpires Sportsbook
- Unibet Sportsbook
PointsBet Sportsbook could be said to be a loner in this market, as it currently has Phoenix at -120 and Chicago +100. Is that book’s relative faith in the Sky justified, though?
How the season series went between these teams
The Mercury and Sky met up three times in the regular season, with two of those games happening at the Footprint Center in Arizona. The dates were June 1, June 3, and Aug. 31.
In a form reminiscent of 2014, Phoenix won all three contests. The average margin of victory from those games was eight points. However, the majority of that difference came in the last of the three contests, which the Mercury won 103-83.
Phoenix won the first meeting by 84-83 and the second two days later 77-74. One of the big differences between the tighter games and the Mercury blowout was that Taurasi did not play in either of the first two games.
By the same token, however, the Sky were without Candace Parker in the first two contests. Could Parker’s presence make enough of a difference for Chicago to take three out of five this time? That’s part of what bettors will have to decide when handicapping these lines.
