WNBA 2020 Championship Odds and Opening Weekend TV Schedule, Live-Stream Info

The 2020 WNBA season is finally set to tip off Saturday, with three games at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

All 12 teams will be in action over the weekend, with television coverage split between ESPN, ABC and CBS Sports Network.

WNBA Opening Weekend Schedule

Saturday, July 25

12 p.m. ET: Seattle Storm vs. New York Liberty, ESPN (ESPN app)

3 p.m. ET: Los Angeles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury, ABC

5 p.m. ET: Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics, CBS Sports Network (CBSSports.com)

Sunday, July 26

12 p.m. ET: Connecticut Sun vs. Minnesota Lynx, ESPN (ESPN app)

3 p.m. ET: Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces, ABC

5 p.m. ET: Dallas Wings vs. Atlanta Dream, CBS Sports Network (CBSSports.com)

The Seattle Storm's WNBA title defense was doomed before it even began last year. Breanna Stewart suffered a ruptured Achilles while playing in the EuroLeague championship game in April 2019, and Sue Bird underwent knee surgery that wiped out her entire season.

With Stewart and Bird back on the court, the Storm are co-title favorites on FanDuel, along with the Los Angeles Sparks and reigning champion Washington Mystics.

2020 WNBA Championship Odds

Los Angeles Sparks (+450)

Seattle Storm (+450)

Washington Mystics (+450)

Las Vegas Aces (+500)

Connecticut Sun (+600)

Phoenix Mercury (+1300)

New York Liberty (+1300)

Minnesota Lynx (+2700)

Indiana Fever (+5500)

Atlanta Dream (+7000)

Dallas Wings (+7000)

The Mystics' position is somewhat surprising given how they've been similarly snakebitten to the Storm in their follow-up to a championship run.

Kristi Toliver signed with the Sparks and would've been unavailable anyway after she decided to sit out the 2020 season. Washington will be without its best player, Elena Delle Donne, and biggest offseason acquisition, Tina Charles, as well as role players Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders.

The trio of Emma Meesseman, Aerial Powers and Ariel Atkins will have to shoulder a far larger scoring load than they did a year ago. Adequately replacing Delle Donne will be next to impossible for head coach Mike Thibault, though.

Similarly, the Las Vegas Aces would've been a surefire contender at full strength. Instead, Kelsey Plum injured her Achilles and will miss all of 2020, while Liz Cambage received a medical exemption that allowed her to sit out while collecting her full salary.

The spotlight will be on A'ja Wilson, who averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 2019. Las Vegas also signed Angel McCoughtry to bolster its depth on the wing.

The Aces did little to address their floor-spacing, however, after making the fewest three-pointers (187) in the WNBA. That might be where Plum's injury hits the hardest since her 45 made threes were second-most on the team.

The New York Liberty aren't in the title discussion too much since simply making the playoffs would be an achievement for a team that is counting on six—potentially seven with Megan Walker recovering after testing positive for COVID-19—rookies in 2020.

New York's inclusion in Saturday's first game against a star-studded Storm squad probably isn't a coincidence, though.

Many eyes will be drawn to No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu, whose Oregon career helped her build a national profile before she made the jump to the WNBA. Ionescu is the first player in Division I history to finish with at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists and was only a junior when she set the NCAA career triple-double record.

The WNBA only has a maximum of 144 roster spots available at a given time, compared to 450 spots across the NBA. As a result, talent is heavily concentrated among a small number of teams, making it difficult for a rookie to transform her new team overnight.

Stewart is one of the most decorated college players ever. She won four national titles and four NCAA tournament Most Outstanding player awards, and she earned consensus national player of the year honors in each of her final three years.

Stewart joined a Storm team that included Bird and Jewell Loyd, the No. 1 overall pick in 2015. Seattle didn't finish with a winning record until her third season, though.

The Liberty have Asia Durr, Kia Nurse and Amanda Zahui B. among the holdovers from 2019, but immediate team success will probably prove elusive for Ionescu.

That will do little to dampen the enthusiasm surrounding her debut season in the WNBA.