When the WNBA regular season tips off Friday with four games, New York sports betting will provide new opportunities for bettors in the state.
Locally, the New York Liberty looks to continue to improve after a first-round exit in the playoffs last season.
Even with a record of 12-20, the Liberty progressed after going 2-20 in a shortened campaign the season before to miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
New York has a new leader at the helm in head coach Sandy Brondello, who led the Phoenix Mercury to the 2014 crown and made the playoffs in all eight of her seasons there.
Where the Liberty Stands with Oddsmakers
BetMGM Sportsbook New York released its future WNBA title odds for the season on Wednesday morning and the Liberty, which opened at +2500, are now at +1400 with the biggest line movement to date to take home the league title.
The Liberty have 6.7% of the tickets so far at BetMGM, with 16.2% of the handle. New York also has the third biggest liability for BetMGM behind the Washington Mystics and the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun currently are co-favorites to win the championship at +350. Others ahead of New York include the Chicago Sky (+450), Seattle Storm (+500), the Mercury (+650) and the Minnesota Lynx (+800). That places the Liberty at seventh in the 12-team league when it comes to odds.
PointsBet Sportsbook New York also had updated odds, with the Liberty eighth at +2200.
NewYorkBets.com has updates and all the best New York sports betting promo codes.
Key Players, Injured Players for New York
Brondello added some much-needed championship experience by picking up center Stefanie Dolson from the 2021 Sky championship team. Dolson averaged 20 minutes per game with 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season. Dolson, the sixth overall pick in the 2014 WNBA draft, also won national titles with UConn in 2013 and 2014.
Dolson is from Port Jervis, New York, a small city located at the junction of three states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Guard Sabrina Ionescu, who put up record numbers at Oregon, returns for her third season. She averaged 11.7 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists after averaging 18.1 points in three games before injuring her ankle her rookie year.
Also returning is the WNBA Rookie of the Year, Michaela Onyenwere (8.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg), a forward from UCLA.
The Liberty also have guard Asia Durr, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, returning after she missed the past two seasons due to the effects of COVID-19.
Both of the Liberty’s 2022 draft picks will not be available. Former Oregon forward Nyara Sabally and forward Sika Kone from Spain will miss the 2022 season with knee injuries.
New York opens its 2022 campaign against the Sun on Saturday (ESPN, 6 p.m.) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, followed by the first road trip of the season to Chicago on Wednesday (CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.).
