How to bet on MLS: Complete July 2024 guide

The Inquirer is here to educate you on exactly how to bet on MLS, as we go over all you need to know when betting on Major League Soccer in 2024. With North Carolina sports betting live, you can wager on MLS in that state now too.

MLS odds work in similar ways to odds for any other sport you’ll bet on. For starters, we’ll discuss underdogs and favorites.

When looking at a particular match, the underdog will always have a + sign next to their odds. The favorite for will have a - sign next to their odds.

Betting on the underdog will yield you a higher payout should you win your wager whereas betting on the favorite won’t win you as much money.

Betting odds are always written out in a way to tell you how much money you need to bet to make a $100 profit.

For example, if the Philadelphia Union’s odds of beating the Toronto FC are -250, you’ll need to wager $250 in order to win $100 profit. Since they’re the favorites, you have to wager more to win more.

However, if you’re looking to bet on Toronto, whose odds of beating Philadelphia are +200, you’ll win $300 if you wager $100.

If you’re new to betting, the simplest way to begin is by wagering on the moneyline.

When you’re betting on an MLS moneyline, you’re simply betting on the result of a match and who you think will win.

Soccer bettors will also find something called a three way moneyline, which is something exclusive to the sport. This means you’ll have the option to wager on a game ending in a tie if you foresee that outcome happening. Because most sports don’t allow or try to avoid ties, it’s not a type of wager you’ll find on any other sport than soccer.

Draws will typically have higher odds because of how hard they are to predict.

In this example, betting $100 on the LA Galaxy (+240) will see you make a $240 profit, whilst wagering $100 on the D.C. United (-200) will yield you $50 profit.

The next easiest betting market to understand is the totals market.

This market is exactly what it sounds like, as you’re betting on the total number of goals you think the two teams will combine to score throughout a game.

If an MLS game between Atlanta United and New England Revolution has a total bet of 3.5 goals, you’re betting on whether or not the teams will score less or more goals than that predetermined amount by the sportsbook.

However, if a totals prop is 3.0 and exactly three goals are scored, your wager results in a push and your stake will be sent back to you.

Totals bets can also be found for each individual team as well.

After learning how the money line and totals markets work, next up is the spread market. Spread betting (Also known as Handicap) is betting on how many goals you think will separate the two teams by the end of the game.

These numbers will be predetermined by your sportsbook. In this example, let’s say Austin FC has a handicap of +2, while Nashville SC has a -2.

If you wager on Nashville SC, you need them to win the game by more than two goals. If they win by a two goal margin or less, draw or don’t win the game, your bet won’t win.

If you place your bet on Austin FC, you can win the bet if they win the game, draw or don’t win by only one goal.

Wagering on these traditional forms of betting isn’t limited to just before a game starts.

Nowadays, sportsbooks offer live betting props where you can wager on these props while the game is happening in real time. The main thing to keep in mind with live betting is odds are subject to change based on how the game is unfolding.

These odds will often be more competitive, as a team losing 2-0 with 40 minutes left will have very long odds if you place a wager on them to make a massive comeback.

When betting on soccer matches, bettors have a few different types of prop markets to bet on. These markets are team props, game props, and player props.

Team props offer you the chance to bet on teams, but not on the money line, spread, or totals. If you’re betting on team props, you’re wagering on whether or not a specific team will meet certain statistical criteria for that match. Examples of this can include:

Player props focus individually on the players of soccer matches. If you feel confident you know how well a specific player may play in that particular match, you can wager on whether or not they’ll achieve certain statistical criteria. Examples of these props include:

Game props are a mix of team and player props. Game props encompass MLS games as a whole rather than just one specific team or player. Some of the examples you may come across in an MLS game are:

Futures markets are bets that won’t be resolved in the immediate future. These types of wagers encompass the big picture of a sport, such as who may win the MLS cup or MVP award.

These types of wagers become available before the start of a regular season or tournament. MLS odds on futures bets are traditionally much longer due to how difficult it is to predict something that’s so far away.

These odds will change throughout the course of a tournament or season. As teams who were at the bottom of futures odds before the season play well, they’ll rise the ranks. The same thing goes for players who may be in contention for an award.

Therefore, if you see MLS Cup odds you like, place that wager while you can.

Examples of futures bets you can place include:

The most popular MLS bet bettors can maximize their earnings is by building parlays. Parlays are when you combine a mix of wagers together into one. Each wager you add to your parlay is technically called a leg.

In order to win the parlay, you need every single leg to come out correctly. If you make a ten leg parlay and nine things go your way, you won’t win your bet.

The exception to that is when a sportsbook runs a parlay insurance promotion, where you can get one leg incorrect and get your stake up to a certain amount back in the form of bonus bets.

Parlays have much bigger odds because they add up all the odds of the legs you insert into your parlay.

You can mix and match traditional wagers with player or game prop bets to come up with your parlay. An example could look like this:

To begin placing your MLS bets, there are a few steps you must first take with the sportsbook of your choosing.

There are more MLS betting sites nowadays than ever as online sports betting continues to grow and expand. Consequently, it can be challenging to know which ones are the most trustworthy and offer the best services.

The best MLS betting sites in the table are at the top of this article and are among the most popular ones in the industry. Not only are they popular, but they’re safe and secure, alleviating any potential concern you may have over the security of your information.

One of the differentiating factors you can use to differentiate which sportsbook to start with is their welcome offer and how generous and easy to redeem they are.

If you’re strictly looking for a welcome offer that will give you the most bang for your buck, the best options for you will be Caesars, BetMGM, and FanDuel. In addition to having the best welcome bonuses, they also offer the best soccer betting experiences on desktop or mobile.

All three of these offers work similarly in the way of how your bet gets redeemed. If your first bet up to their specified amount isn’t successful, you’ll be refunded your stake in the form of bonus bets that have a certain timeline to be used before they expire.

Yes, you can absolutely win real money by betting on soccer. However, it is super important to remember betting is meant to be a form of entertainment only.

You shouldn’t rely on sports betting for income, and it’s critical you don’t chase your losses if you’re down on your luck.

One of the easiest pieces of advice we can give is to do research on your matchup. This can extend to the teams’ stats throughout the season, as well as researching the previous head-to-head matchups between two teams.

History is an instructive teacher, and looking at recent trends rather than season long stats can also be a useful idea for bettors.

Making sure you check the injury report is another important thing you should do before betting on an MLS game. Injuries happen all the time in any sport, and you wouldn’t want to bet on a team whose best player is out due to injury.

The reigning MLS Cup champions are the Columbus Crew, who won their third MLS championship in 2023 by defeating the Los Angeles FC, who were looking to repeat as champions.

The Crew were one of the best teams in the regular season, earning 57 points. That made them the third seed in the Eastern Conference entering the postseason. They had an impressive overall record of 16-9-9. Their leading goal scorer was Cucho, who netted 24 goals.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.