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How accurate are the WNBA odds?

The closing prices of 1,517 finished games since Thu 1 Jul 2021, set against what happened: the chance the market gave, with the bookmakers' margin removed, next to how often it came in. A record of what the market did, not a tip.

The market's record

1,517 games, 2 bookmakers
  • Closing favourite won 69% 1,048 of 1,517 games
  • Market Brier score 0.396 0 is perfect; a coin flip scores 0.500
  • Average closing payout 95.3% 100% minus the bookmakers' margin
  • Games covered 1,517 Thu 1 Jul 2021 to Sat 10 Oct 2026

4 of the 1,521 games finished in that time are left out: no bookmaker had a closing price on every outcome.

Market chance against what happened

0-10% chance: happened 6.0% of 50 selections 10-20% chance: happened 14.1% of 269 selections 20-30% chance: happened 24.8% of 347 selections 30-40% chance: happened 32.1% of 411 selections 40-50% chance: happened 47.6% of 433 selections 50-60% chance: happened 52.3% of 447 selections 60-70% chance: happened 67.8% of 410 selections 70-80% chance: happened 75.3% of 348 selections 80-90% chance: happened 85.9% of 269 selections 90-100% chance: happened 94.0% of 50 selections 100% 0%
Market said 0%100%
Happened
Market chancePriceSelectionsMarket saidHappenedDiff
0-10% 10.00 or longer 50 8.4% 6.0% -2.4 pts
10-20% 5.00 to 10.00 269 15.1% 14.1% -1.0 pts
20-30% 3.33 to 5.00 347 25.1% 24.8% -0.3 pts
30-40% 2.50 to 3.33 411 35.1% 32.1% -3.0 pts
40-50% 2.00 to 2.50 433 45.1% 47.6% +2.5 pts
50-60% 1.67 to 2.00 447 54.7% 52.3% -2.4 pts
60-70% 1.43 to 1.67 410 64.9% 67.8% +2.9 pts
70-80% 1.25 to 1.43 348 74.9% 75.3% +0.4 pts
80-90% 1.11 to 1.25 269 84.9% 85.9% +1.0 pts
90-100% 1.11 or shorter 50 91.6% 94.0% +2.4 pts

Every priced outcome of every game is one selection. "Market said" is the bookmakers' average implied probability with the margin removed; "Happened" is how often that outcome came in. On the diagonal the market was right on average; above it, that kind of result happened more often than the prices said. Bands with fewer than 30 selections are left out.

Home, away

OutcomeMarket saidHappenedDiff
Home win 55.1% 55.0% -0.1 pts
Away win 44.9% 45.0% +0.1 pts

The market's average closing chance for each outcome over all 1,517 games against the share of games it won. "Home" is the first-named side.

Bookmaker accuracy

lower is better
BookmakerGamesBrier scorevs market averagePayout
Unibet 1,373 0.393 -0.002 94.6%
Bet365 1,103 0.395 +0.008 96.0%

Each bookmaker's own closing prices, margin removed, scored against the results of the games it priced; "vs market average" compares it with the bookmakers' average on the same games, so a negative figure means its prices were the closer. Bookmakers with fewer than 50 priced games are left out. Differences of a few thousandths are noise; a much higher score usually means the bookmaker's last price was captured well before the start, so it is the price in our archive being scored, not the trader.

Odds accuracy FAQ

How accurate are WNBA odds?
Across 1,517 finished WNBA games since 2021, the closing favourite won 69% of the time. The market's closing chance, with the bookmakers' margin removed, gave the home side 55.1% on average and home wins happened 55.0% of the time. The bands above show the same comparison price by price: a well-calibrated market has outcomes happening about as often as its prices say.
What is a Brier score?
The squared distance between the chances a bookmaker's prices gave and what happened, averaged over games: 0 would be perfect foresight, and on a three-way market a coin-flip price scores 0.667. The market average's closing prices score 0.396 in this league; the lowest single bookmaker is Unibet at 0.393. Differences of a few thousandths between bookmakers are noise, not skill.
Does a well-calibrated market mean the odds cannot be beaten?
Calibration says the market is right on average, not on every game. A band where outcomes happened more often than the prices said is where the closing market under-priced that kind of result over these seasons. The bookmaker's margin, about 4.7% here, still has to be cleared: the closing line value calculator shows what a price needs to beat.