Betting buzz: Ohtani pitching props, Clark's big game, impact of Devers and Bane trades

Everything that happens successful sports has further discourse erstwhile viewed from a betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and truthful overmuch more, the quality rhythm volition perpetually and importantly impact the sports betting industry.

Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to supply fans a look astatine 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 successful Major League Baseball and the NBA, the instrumentality of Caitlin Clark and a triple-digit agelong changeable U.S. Open victor highlighted a engaged sports weekend. Here's an odds-and-ends look astatine immoderate betting storylines from the play and Monday.

MLB: Shohei Ohtani is slated to marque his return to the mound for the Dodgers, acting arsenic an opener successful what's expected to beryllium a one- oregon two-inning pitching appearance.

ESPN BET was offering +105 connected Ohtani to onslaught retired astatine slightest 2 batters during his archetypal travel backmost to the mound successful astir 2 years since undergoing elbow surgery. The implicit connected Ohtani's strikeouts was the lone pitching prop among the top-20 most-popular MLB subordinate props with bettors connected Monday greeting astatine ESPN BET. Ohtani is simply a dense favourite to triumph the National League MVP (-400).

The Los Angeles Dodgers are -155 favorites implicit the San Diego Padres connected Monday greeting astatine ESPN BET.

The San Francisco Giants' World Series likelihood moved from 40-1 to 30-1 astatine ESPN BET, pursuing a commercialized with the Boston Red Sox for slugger Rafael Devers. In the archetypal 12 hours since the trade, much bets had been placed and much wealth wagered connected the Giants to triumph the World Series astatine ESPN BET than immoderate different team. The Red Sox's likelihood to triumph the World Series (40-1) did not move.

WNBA: The implicit connected Caitlin Clark to people much than 20 points successful her instrumentality to the tribunal was the most-popular WNBA points prop stake offered astatine DraftKings connected Saturday. The second-most? Clark to people implicit 30 points. She delivered connected both, pouring successful 32 points to pb the Indiana Fever to an upset of the antecedently unbeaten New York Liberty. In her archetypal crippled backmost since missing 5 games with a quad injury, Clark besides was the astir fashionable stake successful DraftKings' assists, rebounds and 3-pointers made prop markets. She finished with 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 7 threes.

The sportsbook's most-popular WNBA dispersed and money-line stake connected Saturday? The Liberty, who mislaid 102-88.

Golf: J.J. Spaun, a 150-1 pre-tournament agelong shot, won the U.S. Open. Entering the tournament, Spaun had attracted 0.1% of each the wealth stake connected BetMGM's likelihood to triumph the U.S. Open.

NBA: The Orlando Magic's NBA rubric likelihood for adjacent play moved from 40-1 to 22-1 astatine ESPN BET aft acquiring Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies successful a commercialized Saturday. The Magic person the fifth-best rubric likelihood successful the Eastern Conference.

June 10: Roman Anthony shakes up AL ROY contention aft call-up

Doug Greenberg: The Boston Red Sox made a large splash Monday erstwhile they called up baseball's No. 1 imaginable Roman Anthony to the large leagues. The abrupt newsbreak, which occurred astir 3 hours earlier Boston's location crippled against the Tampa Bay Rays, caused a surge successful the betting markets, some successful the abbreviated and agelong term.

ESPN BET reports that Anthony's "To deed a location run" marketplace ended up being the third-most stake MLB prop connected Monday, portion DraftKings says that the 21-year-old was its astir stake subordinate wide and the Red Sox were the second-most backed squad (Anthony went 0-4 successful his debut). That fervor translated to the American League Rookie of the Year market, wherever some sportsbooks study Anthony arsenic the starring wealth generator since his call-up, taking upwards of 87% of grip astatine each. Immediately pursuing the news, ESPN BET slashed Anthony's terms successful fractional from 40-1 to 20-1.

However, the large unreserved connected futures created lone a driblet successful the bucket for the wide market: ESPN BET reports conscionable 2.8% of grip backing him astatine large, with BetMGM (4%) and DraftKings (7%) reporting lone marginally more, placing him extracurricular the apical 5 astir stake players by wealth for the market.

The marketplace person is easy the Athletics' Jacob Wilson, whose scorching blistery commencement to the play has him arsenic a -500 favourite for AL ROTY, according to ESPN BET. Given his precise abbreviated odds, he's unsurprisingly the grip person astatine BetMGM (31.9%) and ESPN BET (36.6%).

However, the tickets person for the marketplace astatine some sportsbooks is Kansas City Royals rookie Jac Caglianone (13-1), who made his MLB debut little than a week earlier Anthony and has garnered 16.5% of the tickets astatine ESPN BET. Anthony's teammate Kristian Campbell (50-1) has besides seen a just magnitude of action, attracting the second-most bets and wealth with the sportsbook.

None of the players mentioned began the play arsenic the likelihood person for AL Rookie of the Year; that grant belongs to New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez, who opened the run astatine +400 and has since slipped to 20-1, tied for 3rd with Anthony astatine ESPN BET. Wilson, by contrast, started the play tied with Campbell for 3rd connected the likelihood committee astatine +750, past took the pb by May 1 astatine +155 earlier uncovering his existent minus-odds.

May 30: Analysis finds dip successful magnitude stake connected hoops this season

Purdum: The magnitude stake connected hoops -- some assemblage and nonrecreational -- dropped an estimated 10% this play compared with past season, according to an investigation by gambling probe steadfast Eilers & Krejcik.

College hoops accounted for the bulk of the decrease, the steadfast found, but the NBA was not immune. During the archetypal 4 months of 2025, betting grip connected the NBA dropped 5.5% year-over-year, portion sportsbook gross from NBA bets accrued 14%, according to the analysis.

Eilers & Krejcik analyzed authorities gross reports and reviewed nationalist statements from sportsbook operators successful its investigation released this week. It reasoned that the driblet successful hoops grip stemmed from a alteration successful the magnitude of promotional offers from sportsbooks arsenic good arsenic bettors shifting to "higher margin, little involvement products similar [same crippled parlays]."

Flutter, the genitor institution of FanDuel, acknowledged "softer" hoops grip during the commencement of 2025.

"We property that to immoderate factors that we've seen successful hoops successful the quarter, including immoderate little competitory matchups implicit the people of the regular play that results successful larger spreads erstwhile it comes to the betting and consequently has a amended interaction successful presumption of what we see," Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake said during a May net call.

"It's besides worthy mentioning that the playoffs person got disconnected to a bully start," Coldrake added. "There seems to beryllium truly bully engagement astir the players."

Sportsbook BetMGM this week released information connected the astir fashionable NBA teams and players with bettors this season. Denver Nuggets prima Nikola Jokic attracted much bets than immoderate different player, portion the Los Angeles Lakers were the astir fashionable squad to stake with BetMGM customers.

May 27: Collier WNBA MVP favourite pursuing Caitlin Clark injury

Doug Greenberg: Given her immense popularity and electrifying WNBA rookie play successful 2024, it came arsenic small astonishment that Caitlin Clark was a starring campaigner for league MVP heading into her 2nd campaign, with her likelihood to triumph the grant bolstered by a plethora of nationalist action.

However, those MVP hopes took a disappointing crook Monday erstwhile the Indiana Fever announced that Clark would miss astatine slightest 2 weeks due to the fact that of a near quad strain, marking the archetypal regular-season games she'll miss successful either her assemblage oregon nonrecreational career. The resulting betting enactment question and bettor enactment was swift.

Just earlier the announcement, Clark was the -115 favourite to instrumentality location the 2025 MVP award, but those likelihood lengthened to +165 successful the contiguous aftermath of her injury. By Monday day she was +210, and by Tuesday greeting she was +220, according to ESPN BET.

Taking her spot astatine the apical of the likelihood committee was Minnesota Lynx guardant Napheesa Collier, who has gotten disconnected to a white-hot commencement this season, averaging a league-leading 29.5 points per crippled arsenic the follow-up to a 2024 run that saw her honored arsenic Defensive Player of the Year. Collier was +185 to triumph MVP successful 2025 earlier Clark's wounded but instantly jumped to -105 pursuing the announcement of Clark's impending lack and was -170 by Tuesday morning.

Collier's likelihood dominance is besides a effect to overwhelming enactment backing her. Multiple large sportsbooks study her attracting the astir wealth successful the MVP marketplace since the Clark wounded quality broke, with ESPN BET and DraftKings saying Collier has received upward of 83% of the grip implicit that time.

While immoderate bettors are utilizing the accidental to bargain backmost plus-odds connected Clark, galore much are exploring different names. Three-time and reigning MVP A'ja Wilson (+900 astatine ESPN BET) has been a fashionable selection, with the Las Vegas Aces superstar tying Collier for the astir bets taken astatine FanDuel since Clark's injury.

ESPN BET besides reports that Kelsey Plum (+6000), averaging 24.8 PPG successful her archetypal play with the Los Angeles Sparks, has taken 16.8% of the wagers since Monday afternoon, trailing lone Collier and Wilson.

As for WNBA rubric odds, the enactment has been significant. ESPN BET and BetMGM some study a bulk of stake slips backing the New York Liberty (favorites astatine +185) to triumph it each since Clark's wounded announcement, portion FanDuel, which moved Indiana from +370 to +430, inactive reports the Fever arsenic its most-backed squad implicit that clip period.

May 26: Arkansas statement College World Series favorite

Purdum: Arkansas is the betting favourite up of respective SEC teams that beryllium atop the likelihood to triumph the College World Series astatine sportsbooks.

The Razorbacks were the favorites 9-2 astatine ESPN BET connected Monday aft the CWS bracket was announced, followed by LSU (6-1) and Tennessee (8-1). Seven of the apical 8 teams connected the committee astatine ESPN BET hail from the SEC. North Carolina (9-1) of the ACC is the lone non-SEC squad with likelihood shorter than 10-1.

Vanderbilt, winners of the SEC tourney and No. 1 wide effect successful the CWS, is 10-1 on with Georgia. The SEC accounted for 8 of the apical 16 seeds successful the CWS.

Arkansas began the twelvemonth astir 14-1 to triumph the CWS but emerged arsenic the statement favourite midway done the regular play astatine immoderate sportsbooks. The Razorbacks went 20-10 successful the rugged SEC and were 31-5 astatine location this season. They'll unfastened against North Dakota State successful the Fayetteville regional.

The opening rounds statesman Friday.