How to bet on MLS in 2021
Major League Soccer (MLS) has been around since 1993 and it has been developing over the years as the USA’s premier soccer league. It has attracted many global superstars over the years to the league and the standard of play is always getting better. There are currently 26 teams in the league and has seen improving attendances and viewership numbers in recent years. This MLS betting sites guide looks at all the different options you have when it comes to soccer betting.
MLS betting: The basics
The first league season as part of the MLS came in 1996, with the impetus for this league being the USA hosting the FIFA World Cup in 1994. Of the 26 teams in the league, 23 of them are in the USA and 3 of them are based in Canada. The MLS is considered to be one of the major sports leagues in the region today.
With more teams soon set to join the league. The season normally begins towards the end of February or the start of March and will end by the middle of October. There are 34 games played during the league season. 14 of the teams will then get to the MLS Cup Playoffs series. Behind the NFL and the MLB, the MLS has the third highest attendance of the major sports leagues and is 7th in the world in terms of the soccer leagues.
In terms of MLS betting, there is a growing appetite for these types of markets as sports betting becomes legal across the USA. All of the usual types of soccer bets you will want will be on offer for MLS league games. Other popular soccer betting competitions include Champions League, Premier League and World Cup.
Types of Bets in MLS
There are a few major types of bets that are highly popular among sports fans. MLS betting has been getting more attention as of late as some global superstars have begun to infiltrate the league. Here are some of these betting types:
Moneyline
A moneyline bet is the most basic type of bet that you will be faced with MLS betting. It simply sees you choosing which of the teams in a given fixture you are going to back as a moneyline bit.
To get enhanced odds on the favorite team, there will be a spread added to the equation. For example, if the spread is 1.5 goals, this means that the favorite will have to win the game by at least two goals in order or for the moneyline bet to win. For MLS games, there are other types of moneyline bets, including Asian handicap bets.
Futures Betting
Futures betting is a way for you to try to predict the odds of a given future event. This could be who you think is going to be named to the MLS All-Star team come the end of the season or what team you think is going to be crowned as the MLS Cup champion come the end of the season. It is a popular betting odds type at the start of the season, giving you something to cheer for as the season progresses.
Prop Betting
Prop betting is very popular in the USA, largely driven by the popularity of fantasy sports that reflects a lot of similar attributes. There are prop bets for individual players that are not particularly associated with the final result of a game.
For example, you may bet on how many assists a player will have or if they will get a yellow car during the game. For team prop betting, you may bet on how many corners a team has during a game or the total number of goals the score.
Parlay Betting
Parlays are also called accumulator bets and give you a way to combine the odds of numerous selections into one single bet. This sees the odds of each individual selection multiplied with the odds of one another.
This creates a lucrative bet a lot of the time even if you are betting a small stake. A parlay bet will have at least two selections and can have more than a dozen selections if you wish. These types of bets are particularly popular among soccer betting fans.
Scorecast
A scorecast bet sees you trying to predict the potential scoring attributes of a given game. For example, you may try to predict the correct score of the game at the full-time whistle or at half-time. You may back a certain team or player to score the first goal in the match or to simply score a goal at any stage during the game. These are popular types of bets for MLS betting.
Biggest MLS games for placing a bet
There are a few big games each season in the MLS that attracts worldwide attention. These are also games that lead to a large number of bets being placed on the outcome.
MLS Cup
The MLS is the post-season championship game as part of the MLS. There is a series of playoffs that takes place as a path to the ultimate final game. Most other soccer leagues across the world simply crown the team that finishes first in the league as the winner.
The MLS Cup has been taking place since 1996 and this final gamer normally takes place in November. To date, the team that has won the most MLS Cups is Los Angeles Galaxy, having won five titles in its history. Many of these finals are extremely exciting and have some big scores that always lead to plenty of betting options.
US Open Cup
The US Open Cup is a knockout cup competition that takes place among 100 clubs across four different professional leagues in the region. It has been taking place since 1914, so it has a lot of history attached to it. Teams from the MLS have dominated this trophy since 1996. In the first few rounds of the tournament, there are amateur teams taking part, pitting some giants against these minnows if they manage to progress far enough.
Place a bet on MLS: Step-by-Step
If you are looking to begin betting on MLS games, you have come to the right place. Here is a step by step insight into what you might expect in order to begin this process of MLS betting:
- Step 1: Select a sportsbook: You may have a list of priorities for what you want through a sports betting site. Whatever the case may be, you can use the BettingBilly comparison tool to see which site will be a good fit for you.
- Step 2: Sign Up: As soon as you have selected the sportsbook you are going to be using, you can set up an account with this offering. This normally just takes a couple of minutes to do. Standard personal info is needed, as well as contact info.
- Step 3: Verify your ID: A required step for all licensed operators is verifying your identity when setting up a sports betting account. All you need to do is provide a copy of some photo ID and proof of address.
- Step 4: Add funds: You can now add some funds to this account. If there is a welcome bonus offer, there may be a promo code you need to enter while making this transaction to activate the bonus deal. Once the funds hit your account, you are good to go to start betting.
MLS betting for beginners: How to bet
To begin the process of placing MLS bets, there are some handy tips to keep in mind. These will allow you to move faster through the learning curve and get to the road to being a successful bettor all things going well.
- Tip 1: Experiment: You should experiment with the various betting types and see what occasions will be best suited to certain options. It will give you a good insight into what route may be best fitted to your skillset.
- Tip 2: Do your homework: Don’t just randomly pick a team because you like the layers or fancy the name of the team. Do your homework to see what the trends point towards as much as possible.
- Tip 3: Learn from your mistakes: It is important that when you are beginning as a sports bettor that you learn from the sites you make. These mistakes will likely be frequent in the beginning, while learning these lessons can help solve a lot of issues quickly.
- Tip 4: Don’t bet on every game: While there are plenty of betting options every week of the season, you do not have to place a bet on every single game. Instead, you should focus your energy and resources on a handful of games, showing confidence in your research.
- Tip 5: Get expert picks: To get started learning how to be a successful bettor, you can use expert picks to get an insight into the world of expert bettors. Billy’s List is such an option that you can sign up to for free and get the picks sent straight to your inbox.
MLS betting for professionals: How to bet
There are professional bettors that include MLS betting as a way to bump up their profits over time through consistent betting. While they are going to be taking different approaches to one another, there are some consistencies that you notice that can stand the test of time.
- Getting the best odds: It is important that you are getting the best odds when you are making a given bet. Even tiny differences in the offered odds will make a large difference as time goes on. This is why most experienced bettors have accounts with all of the top betting sites.
- Find a niche: A lot of experienced bettors focus on certain teams or conferences when betting on the MLS. This is because they do not have to consume as much information as if they were trying to cover every single team in the MLS. The same goes for certain betting types.
- Availing of bonus offers: There are often bonus offers available through betting sites. Even experienced bettors use these types of offers as they are providing low risk ways to boost their bottom line.
MLS betting: Try it now at one of the top 5 betting sites
There are countless leading MLS betting sites out there today. Thankfully, BettingBilly can narrow down the list for you thanks to its sportsbook comparison tool. Get started today with just a few clicks.
Premier League betting is the more popular form of soccer betting for club teams in the world. While MLS betting is not at that level yet, there are a lot of comparisons that can be made. You still have all of your bases covered in terms of the 100+ betting markets that are available for most MLS games.
There is no one sportsbook that can be pointed out as having the best odds for every single market for every single MLS game. However, there are some sites that do generally have good odds for these games. To see what these MLS betting sites may be, you can use the BettingBilly comparison tool.
You need to be inside of a state where there is legal online sports betting. There will usually be a minimum age you need to be in order to place a bet and you will have to be within state lines at the time of making the bet. To see the rules for your given state, you can use the BettingBilly state checker tool.
There are constantly new types of markets added for MLS games, both pre-game and in-play. With more teams set to enter the MLS in the coming years, this is only going to present further exciting betting opportunities for fans of the sport. You can keep an eye on these latest developments through BettingBilly so you don’t miss out.
This will vary from person to person. Some people like to have the chance to potentially win big from small bets, so they will favor parlays, while others will like to place simple moneyline bets on the winner of the game. You should choose betting types that make the viewing experience as enjoyable as possible for you.
