The Caitlin Clark phenomenon affected many parts of the sporting world, including the betting markets.
When Clark was starring for Iowa, the prop bets on Hawkeyes games featured an absurd majority for the overs on Clark. Bettors loved Iowa to win the NCAA championship, which almost happened. Practically speaking, if bettors could take Clark to do something well they punched a ticket.
Clark is in the WNBA now but that betting support for her hasn’t slowed down.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick of the draft to the Indiana Fever, has been getting most of the bets to win MVP of the league. And like those bets on her and Iowa a couple months ago, there is a ridiculous split for Clark to win the league’s top individual honor.
Caitlin Clark a popular bet for WNBA MVP
At BetMGM, 74.5% of the money bet on WNBA MVP is on Clark. In terms of amount of WNBA MVP bets, 68.1% of them are on Clark. A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, a two-time MVP, is getting the most bets behind Clark … at 6%.
That means more than 11 times more bets are on Clark than any other player to win MVP.
Even though Clark is one of the hottest names in sports, she’s not the favorite to win MVP. Her opening odds were 12-to-1, and they have come down to 10-1. Wilson is the favorite at +110, last season’s MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty is second at +600 and Clark has the third-shortest odds.
Clark’s odds probably should be longer, but oddsmakers know bettors want to bet Clark no matter what.
It’s rare for a rookie to win MVP
Clark was a dynamic player in college, but it’s rare for even the best of rookies to win MVP.
Candace Parker did it in the WNBA back in 2008. Jim Brown was the NFL’s only rookie MVP, in 1957. Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld did it in the NBA, Fred Lynn and Ichiro Suzui are MLB’s only rookie MVPs and since 1930 the only rookie to win the NHL’s Hart Trophy for its MVP was Wayne Gretzky. And to narrow that list down a bit, Suzuki and Gretzky had played in other professional sports leagues before debuting in MLB and the NHL.
That’s a small list for the major sports. Clark has the talent to be involved in the MVP discussion as a rookie and she won’t lack for media attention, but it’s still remarkable that Clark has the third-shortest odds for MVP and almost three-quarters of the money bet on the winner is on her.
It’s also telling that 45.8% of all bets on the WNBA championship at BetMGM are on the Fever, who went 13-27 last season. Bettors love Clark. Indiana is 20-to-1 to win the championship.
More reasonably, Clark is the huge favorite to win WNBA Rookie of the Year. She is -750 to win that award. No other player has shorter than 30-to-1 odds.
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