ESPN Betting
Jun 16, 2025, 11:38 AM ET
Everything that happens in sports has additional context when viewed from a betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.
Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation.
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Weekend wrap: Clark delivers for bettors, Ohtani pitching props, Devers, Bane trades' impact
David Purdum: Notable trades in Major League Baseball and the NBA, the return of Caitlin Clark and a triple-digit long shot U.S. Open winner highlighted a busy sports weekend. Here's an odds-and-ends look at some betting storylines from the weekend and Monday.
MLB: Shohei Ohtani is slated to make his return to the mound for the Dodgers, acting as an opener in what's expected to be a one- or two-inning pitching appearance.
ESPN BET was offering +105 on Ohtani to strike out at least two batters during his first trip back to the mound in nearly two years since undergoing elbow surgery. The over on Ohtani's strikeouts was the only pitching prop among the top-20 most-popular MLB player props with bettors on Monday morning at ESPN BET. Ohtani is a heavy favorite to win the National League MVP (-400).
The Los Angeles Dodgers are -155 favorites over the San Diego Padres on Monday morning at ESPN BET.
The San Francisco Giants' World Series odds moved from 40-1 to 30-1 at ESPN BET, following a trade with the Boston Red Sox for slugger Rafael Devers. In the first 12 hours since the trade, more bets had been placed and more money wagered on the Giants to win the World Series at ESPN BET than any other team. The Red Sox's odds to win the World Series (40-1) did not move.
WNBA: The over on Caitlin Clark to score more than 20 points in her return to the court was the most-popular WNBA points prop bet offered at DraftKings on Saturday. The second-most? Clark to score over 30 points. She delivered on both, pouring in 32 points to lead the Indiana Fever to an upset of the previously unbeaten New York Liberty. In her first game back since missing five games with a quad injury, Clark also was the most popular bet in DraftKings' assists, rebounds and 3-pointers made prop markets. She finished with nine assists, eight rebounds and seven threes.
The sportsbook's most-popular WNBA spread and money-line bet on Saturday? The Liberty, who lost 102-88.
Golf: J.J. Spaun, a 150-1 pre-tournament long shot, won the U.S. Open. Entering the tournament, Spaun had attracted 0.1% of all the money bet on BetMGM's odds to win the U.S. Open.
NBA: The Orlando Magic's NBA title odds for next season moved from 40-1 to 22-1 at ESPN BET after acquiring Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade Saturday. The Magic have the fifth-best title odds in the Eastern Conference.
June 10: Roman Anthony shakes up AL ROY race after call-up
Doug Greenberg: The Boston Red Sox made a big splash Monday when they called up baseball's No. 1 prospect Roman Anthony to the major leagues. The sudden newsbreak, which occurred approximately three hours before Boston's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, caused a surge in the betting markets, both in the short and long term.
ESPN BET reports that Anthony's "To hit a home run" market ended up being the third-most bet MLB prop on Monday, while DraftKings says that the 21-year-old was its most bet player overall and the Red Sox were the second-most backed team (Anthony went 0-4 in his debut). That fervor translated to the American League Rookie of the Year market, where both sportsbooks report Anthony as the leading money generator since his call-up, taking upwards of 87% of handle at each. Immediately following the news, ESPN BET slashed Anthony's price in half from 40-1 to 20-1.
However, the big rush on futures created only a drop in the bucket for the overall market: ESPN BET reports just 2.8% of handle backing him at large, with BetMGM (4%) and DraftKings (7%) reporting only marginally more, placing him outside the top five most bet players by money for the market.
The market leader is easily the Athletics' Jacob Wilson, whose scorching hot start to the season has him as a -500 favorite for AL ROTY, according to ESPN BET. Given his very short odds, he's unsurprisingly the handle leader at BetMGM (31.9%) and ESPN BET (36.6%).
However, the tickets leader for the market at both sportsbooks is Kansas City Royals rookie Jac Caglianone (13-1), who made his MLB debut less than a week before Anthony and has garnered 16.5% of the tickets at ESPN BET. Anthony's teammate Kristian Campbell (50-1) has also seen a fair amount of action, attracting the second-most bets and money with the sportsbook.
None of the players mentioned began the season as the odds leader for AL Rookie of the Year; that honor belongs to New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez, who opened the campaign at +400 and has since slipped to 20-1, tied for third with Anthony at ESPN BET. Wilson, by contrast, started the season tied with Campbell for third on the odds board at +750, then took the lead by May 1 at +155 before finding his current minus-odds.
May 30: Analysis finds dip in amount bet on hoops this season
Purdum: The amount bet on basketball -- both college and professional -- dropped an estimated 10% this season compared with last season, according to an analysis by gambling research firm Eilers & Krejcik.
College basketball accounted for the bulk of the decrease, the firm found, but the NBA was not immune. During the first four months of 2025, betting handle on the NBA dropped 5.5% year-over-year, while sportsbook revenue from NBA bets increased 14%, according to the analysis.
Eilers & Krejcik analyzed state revenue reports and reviewed public statements from sportsbook operators in its analysis released this week. It reasoned that the drop in basketball handle stemmed from a decrease in the amount of promotional offers from sportsbooks as well as bettors shifting to "higher margin, lower stake products like [same game parlays]."
Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, acknowledged "softer" basketball handle during the start of 2025.
"We attribute that to some factors that we've seen in basketball in the quarter, including some less competitive matchups over the course of the regular season that results in larger spreads when it comes to the betting and consequently has a better impact in terms of what we see," Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake said during a May earnings call.
"It's also worth mentioning that the playoffs have got off to a good start," Coldrake added. "There seems to be really good engagement around the players."
Sportsbook BetMGM this week released data on the most popular NBA teams and players with bettors this season. Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic attracted more bets than any other player, while the Los Angeles Lakers were the most popular team to bet with BetMGM customers.
May 27: Collier WNBA MVP favorite following Caitlin Clark injury
Doug Greenberg: Given her immense popularity and electrifying WNBA rookie season in 2024, it came as little surprise that Caitlin Clark was a leading candidate for league MVP heading into her second campaign, with her odds to win the award bolstered by a plethora of public action.
However, those MVP hopes took a disappointing turn Monday when the Indiana Fever announced that Clark would miss at least two weeks because of a left quad strain, marking the first regular-season games she'll miss in either her college or professional career. The resulting betting line movement and bettor action was swift.
Just before the announcement, Clark was the -115 favorite to take home the 2025 MVP award, but those odds lengthened to +165 in the immediate aftermath of her injury. By Monday afternoon she was +210, and by Tuesday morning she was +220, according to ESPN BET.
Taking her place at the top of the odds board was Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who has gotten off to a white-hot start this season, averaging a league-leading 29.5 points per game as the follow-up to a 2024 campaign that saw her honored as Defensive Player of the Year. Collier was +185 to win MVP in 2025 before Clark's injury but immediately jumped to -105 following the announcement of Clark's impending absence and was -170 by Tuesday morning.
Collier's odds dominance is also a response to overwhelming action backing her. Multiple major sportsbooks report her attracting the most money in the MVP market since the Clark injury news broke, with ESPN BET and DraftKings saying Collier has received upward of 83% of the handle over that time.
While some bettors are using the opportunity to buy back plus-odds on Clark, many more are exploring other names. Three-time and reigning MVP A'ja Wilson (+900 at ESPN BET) has been a popular selection, with the Las Vegas Aces superstar tying Collier for the most bets taken at FanDuel since Clark's injury.
ESPN BET also reports that Kelsey Plum (+6000), averaging 24.8 PPG in her first season with the Los Angeles Sparks, has taken 16.8% of the wagers since Monday afternoon, trailing only Collier and Wilson.
As for WNBA title odds, the action has been significant. ESPN BET and BetMGM both report a majority of bet slips backing the New York Liberty (favorites at +185) to win it all since Clark's injury announcement, while FanDuel, which moved Indiana from +370 to +430, still reports the Fever as its most-backed team over that time period.
May 26: Arkansas consensus College World Series favorite
Purdum: Arkansas is the betting favorite ahead of several SEC teams that sit atop the odds to win the College World Series at sportsbooks.
The Razorbacks were the favorites 9-2 at ESPN BET on Monday after the CWS bracket was announced, followed by LSU (6-1) and Tennessee (8-1). Seven of the top eight teams on the board at ESPN BET hail from the SEC. North Carolina (9-1) of the ACC is the only non-SEC team with odds shorter than 10-1.
Vanderbilt, winners of the SEC tournament and No. 1 overall seed in the CWS, is 10-1 along with Georgia. The SEC accounted for eight of the top 16 seeds in the CWS.
Arkansas began the year around 14-1 to win the CWS but emerged as the consensus favorite midway through the regular season at some sportsbooks. The Razorbacks went 20-10 in the rugged SEC and were 31-5 at home this season. They'll open against North Dakota State in the Fayetteville regional.
The opening rounds begin Friday.
