Baseball is a national sport of the United States, together with football, basketball, and hockey. The MLB (Major League Baseball) has the highest season attendance of all the major leagues in America. Millions of people watch MLB games on a regular basis, while traditionally the highest interest in baseball arises when the World Series is on.
Apart from loving to watch baseball, sports fans also love betting on it. Most people tend to place baseball moneyline bets on individual games. However, with the rise of online betting, baseball bettors have started switching their focus on prop bets and futures.
The latter option seems to be getting a lot of traction in America, where people love to bet on the next winner of the World Series. Down in Mexico, bettors prefer wagering their money on the winner of the LMB (Liga Mexicana de Beisbol).
Over in Japan and South Korea, sports betting is not permitted, but people from countries where this form of betting is legal, have the option to bet on the winners of the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) and KBO (Korea Baseball Championship).
Baseball Futures Explained
By definition, futures or outrights are those bets that aren’t going to be settled anytime soon. The reason? They are placed on competitions that won’t conclude weeks or even months in future.
Usually, the regular MLB season lasts from late March to early October, with the postseason sometimes stretching all the way to November. What this means is that if you place baseball futures before the start of the next MLB season, you will have to wait for about seven months for the bet to settle.
Of course, baseball future bets aren’t only possible with the MLB, but other competitions as well. There are some online sportsbooks that cover national baseball championships in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and many other countries around the world. Then, there are also some that have NCAA baseball futures in the offer.
Regardless of the competition, all baseball outright bets have one thing in common – they come with incredibly attractive odds.
For instance, a couple of weeks before the start of the 2021 MLB season, the odds on the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series were as long as +300. And they were the #1 favorite!
No surprise there, as before or early on in the season, it’s almost impossible to figure out which team is going to do well. It’s very hard to tell how an MLB team will perform in the 162-game-long regular season, followed by the postseason and the World Series.
Plus, there are plenty of teams in the competition. In the MLB, there are 30 teams, separated into two leagues – American League and National League.
The leagues are then separated into three divisions each – East, Central, and West. With baseball futures, you can bet on the winner of each of those!
How to Make an MLB Future Bet?
A great thing about MLB futures is that they’re very a common sight in online sportsbooks. This goes especially for US-based bookmakers and those that are focused on the North American market.
That’s definitely good news as you have plenty of betting sites/apps to choose from. The #1 thing to make sure is that the sportsbook is legit, so that you won’t have to worry about getting scammed.
With your mind at rest, it’s time to compare MLB odds. Check the prices for the team you’re planning to back and see which sportsbook is giving the best odds.
This is very important to do as the odds can differ greatly. For instance, the odds on New York Yankees winning the 2021 World Series were +450 at one sportsbook before the start of the season, while another sportsbook was giving +550 on the Yanks, with the Dodgers being the main favorites at +300.
When you find the best price, all that’s left is to place your bet!
Examples of Baseball Futures
The winner of the World Series is the most popular baseball future bet. However, there are plenty of other options available. Take a look at some examples below!
MLB World Series Futures
- Los Angeles Dodgers to Win the 2021 World Series
- Yankees vs Dodgers – Matchup of the 2021 World Series
- Toronto Blue Jays Not to Play in the 2021 World Series
MLB Pennant Futures
- New York Yankees to Win the 2021 American League
- Los Angeles Dodgers to Win the 2021 National League
- Chicago White Sox Not to Win the AL Pennant
MLB Divisional Futures
- Detroit Tigers to Win AL Central Division
- Atlanta Braves to Win NL East Division
- Pittsburgh Pirates Not to Win NL Central
NPB, KBO, LMB Futures
- Fukuoka S. Hawks to Win the Japan Series
- Samsung Lions to Win the KBO Korean Series
- Sultanes de Monterrey to Win the Serie del Rey
Baseball Player Futures
Most online sportsbooks offer team-based baseball futures like the ones you can see in the examples above. However, there are some bookmakers that also deal with player betting.
Such bookmakers will let you bet who is going to win the MVP, Gold Glove, Hank Aaron Award, and so on. Note that player betting is something you can expect to find only for MLB futures betting.