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Futures bets are one of the most popular forms of sports betting around. Futures betting is placing wagers on long-term action rather than just the outcome of a single game. Many futures bets are season-long wagers, such as who a league's MVP or champion will be. Additionally, some futures bets are prop bets, like whether a team will go over/under a designated win total or a player will exceed or fall short of a particular statistic.

In this detailed guide, we break down everything there is to know about futures sports bets. You can make futures bets at FanDuel Sportsbook, among others.

Where can you bet futures odds?

Futures bets can be found at pretty much any sportsbook, be it an in-person book or online. That's good for a few reasons, the first of which is that there's plenty of accessibility for those looking to place futures bets.

Another key is that it allows for one of the most important parts of placing bets – shopping around for the best odds. Every sportsbook has different odds for different bets, including futures bets. These vary from sportsbook to sportsbook for different reasons, such as different internal algorithms for creating odds or simply the oddsmakers at one book valuing a team or player differently than another. This means bettors who want to place futures sports bets can compare the odds for that wager across different sportsbooks to determine where the best odds are and where they should ultimately place that wager.

You can find futures odds at all of the best sportsbooks.

How futures odds work

Futures bets with American odds will be numbers that carry either a "+" or "-", depending on how likely the event you're betting on is to happen. If odds have a "-" in front, that means that the number is how much a bettor would need to wager in order to get $100 in winnings. Conversely, odds with a "+" in front means how much winnings a $100 wager would net you. For example, betting on something with -130 odds means you'd have to wager $130 to get $100 in winnings. But wagering on something with +130 odds means you'd get $130 in winnings with a $100 bet.

Something to note with futures bets is that many of the odds are longer than you may see when wagering on a single game. Part of that is because the futures bet itself has such a wide variety of outcomes. For instance, if it's July and you're placing a futures bet on who will win the Super Bowl in the upcoming NFL season, that means there are 32 teams to choose from. Additionally, it's not yet clear how each team will perform, which stars are healthy and which are hurt, and so on and so forth. When there's a clear frontrunner for an award, the odds will become extremely short. The further away from an event, the longer the odds.

If you place a futures bet, those odds are locked in for your bet. That means if you place a futures bet at +500 odds, you would be paid out that price if your bet wins, even if the odds shrink to say -500 late in the season. That's important to note because futures odds shift regularly. During an offseason, odds may shift due to coaching changes, draft selections, free agency additions, trades or other factors.

Futures sports odds change the most during the regular season, though, regardless of the sport. That's because we will be able to see how teams are playing and what their records are. Maybe a team was an offseason darling and had relatively short odds to win the championship in comparison to the rest of the league, but they struggled out of the gate, thus their odds get longer to win the title or even make the postseason. Conversely, when we have a clearer idea of who the top teams in a league are, those teams see their odds shrink, thus presenting less value when placing a futures bet in-season than in the offseason in that particular scenario. 

Bet futures at DraftKings Sportsbook:

Primary futures bets by sport

Futures bets do vary by sport, though the basic principles and types of bets are largely the same. Here are the top types of futures bets for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college football and college basketball.

NFL futures

The NFL futures market is one of the most popular futures markets in NFL betting. There are plenty of futures bets to be made for both teams and players when betting on the NFL.

Team futures include betting on the Super Bowl champion, the winner of each conference, the winner of each division and the No. 1 seed in each conference. There are also yes/no and over/under futures bets for teams, such as whether a team will make it to the postseason or if they will go over or under a designated win total. For example, a team may have its win total set at 6.5. Over bettors need the team to win seven or more games, while Under bettors need six or fewer wins for that team. And as with futures bets across all sports, NFL odds shift tremendously once the season gets underway.

Player futures are often tied to awards, such as betting on who will win the MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards, Coach of the Year, and, new this year, the Protector of the Year for the league's top offensive lineman. Player props are also a popular futures bets market, like who will lead in different statistical categories like passing yards or receiving touchdowns, or if a player will go Over or Under different stat lines. A running back, for instance, may have a rushing touchdowns futures prop line of 5.5, meaning an Over bet would win if they scored six or more rushing touchdowns and an Under bet wins with five or fewer rushing scores that season.

Bet NFL futures at bet365 Sportsbook with the promo code CBSBET365:

MLB futures

MLB futures bets also have different bet types depending on whether you're betting on MLB teams or players.

Some MLB futures bets involve picking a team from the field, such as the World Series winner, pennant winner or divisional winner, and others can be yes/no bets on whether a team will make the postseason or if a team will go Over or Under a projected win total of, say, 83.5.

Player futures are also very popular in MLB betting, especially for awards. The most common and popular MLB futures bets for individual players are which players will win MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year. There are also futures prop bets for statistics, whether they be individual totals or who will lead the league in certain stats, but those aren't as popular as awards futures in MLB.

NBA futures

NBA futures betting is another very popular market of sports betting. Like other sports, NBA betting is broken down into team and player futures.

Team futures include who will win the NBA Finals, which teams will win the Western and Eastern Conferences, which team will win the in-season NBA Cup, which teams will make the postseason, whether a team will go Over or Under a designated win total and which teams will have the top seeds in each conference.

NBA player futures in the NBA odds include MVP and Rookie of the Year winners. Those two are the most popular NBA player futures bets. The NBA also sees more star players move teams than other sports leagues in the United States, so there are often futures markets for a player's next team, be it when they're set to test free agency or if a trade may be in the cards. Additionally, some star players may have their own futures market in terms of different achievements they may or may not reach during the season. For example, there are many futures bets on No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, such as whether he'll record a triple-double at any point as a rookie or if he'll score 40 or more points in a single game.

Bet NBA futures at BetMGM Sportsbook:

NHL futures

The NHL also has a robust futures market with different team and player futures betting opportunities for bettors.

NHL team futures include the winner of the Stanley Cup Final, whether a team will make or miss the postseason, which team finishes the season with the most points in the standings/wins the Presidents' Cup and the winners of each division. On the player futures side, awards such as the Hart Trophy (MVP), Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year), Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) and Norris Trophy (top defenseman) all can be wagered on. Additionally, the Rocket Richard Trophy (most goals) and Art Ross Trophy (most points) have futures markets, and bettors can also wager on players going Over or Under different point lines. 

College football futures

Betting on college athletics is very similar to betting on pro sports, and futures bets for college football are pretty similar to NFL futures bets.

For teams, popular futures bets are on the next National Champion, whether a team will make the College Football Playoff, the winner of a conference and also win totals. 

Player futures are also popular, with the most popular one being who will win the Heisman Trophy. With such a wide variety of players on different teams across the country, many players with very long odds entering a season have wound up winning the award. College football prop betting varies from state to state as many don't allow placing player prop bets, and some don't allow bets at all on in-state teams. Additionally, states that do allow college player props tend to focus on single-game props rather than season-long props, and those single-game props are typically tied to a big game like a College Football Playoff matchup or a conference title game.

College basketball futures

Like college football, college basketball betting also has quite a few futures bets.

With team futures, the most popular are the next champion and whether a team will make the NCAA Tournament. There are also futures bets for the winner of a conference's end of season tournament as well as which team will win the conference's regular season title. In terms of futures bets with players, far and away the most popular and available is who wins the Wooden Award as the nation's top player. 

What are good strategies for futures bets?

There are many notable futures betting strategies that are worth mentioning regardless of sport. First and foremost is to shop around for the best odds. Why place a bet on a team to win the Super Bowl at +600 at one sportsbook if that same bet can be made at +750 at another?

Additionally, hedging is a popular strategy in general, but especially for futures bets. This is where you place a second related wager to offset potential losses with the first wager.

And in general, track the odds – not just at different sportsbooks, but at different times. As noted earlier, the best futures odds are often in the offseason. If you feel strongly about a team, that is often when the value will be at its highest. If you wait until the season starts to get a feel for how teams perform, you can still find good value, but typically the earlier the better for these types of wagers.

Benefits and risks of futures bets

There are benefits and risks with futures betting, just like with placing any sports wager.

Benefits include longer odds than you typically would see when betting on games as well as the convenience of being able to place a bet at any time, be it during the season or during the offseason. Futures bets also give bettors something to root for long term, such as a team to win a title, a player to win an award or a team to make a playoff appearance or exceed or fall short of a win total.

The risks of futures sports betting are, for starters, depending on when you place the bet, there are an awful lot of unknowns and things that can happen between placing the bet and when the wager settles. You could bet on an MLB team in January to win the upcoming World Series and they may suffer a few notable injuries during spring training to star players. A team may also be much better on paper than they are on the field, and we won't know that until the season begins. Additionally, the house has a sizable advantage with futures bets that's not necessarily reflected with the odds bettors are given.

FAQ

What does it mean to bet on futures?

Betting futures is placing wagers on long-term outcomes, typically the entire next or current season. Some popular futures bets are betting on the league's next champion, who will win MVP or Rookie of the Year or who will lead the league in a particular statistical category, such as passing touchdowns or home runs.

What is the futures betting market?

The futures betting market is betting on outcomes that won't be determined until later in the future as opposed to betting on a game that day or week. Most futures bets are season-long wagers, such as the next MVP or champion of that league.

What are NFL future bets?

NFL futures bets are placing bets on future, often season-long, outcomes, such as the Super Bowl winner, conference winners, award winners and stat leaders. There are many NFL futures markets, and other top sports have similar futures markets as well.

Does DraftKings do futures?

Yes, DraftKings offers futures bets across different sports and leagues, including futures bets for a season's champion or who will win a certain award.

Can you parlay futures at Caesars?

Yes, Caesars allows parlays on futures bets, but with some restrictions. Caesars doesn't allow for single-sport futures parlays, so if you wanted to parlay futures bets on the Ravens to win the Super Bowl and Joe Burrow to win MVP, you wouldn't be able to do that at Caesars.

Where can I place futures bets?

Futures bets can be placed at any of the following sportsbooks: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics and bet365. 

What is the futures bet in Vegas?

In addition to placing futures bets via online sportsbook apps, bettors who are in Vegas can place futures bets at in-person sportsbooks as well. You will be given a physical bet slip, and if your bet wins, you return that slip to the sportsbook and cash out your winnings. Some sportsbooks allow these slips to be mailed back, but others do not.