If you frequently wager on sporting events and are interested in making some longer-term investments based on your predictions, you might want to try your hand at futures betting.
Futures allow bettors to wager on season-long markets such as championships, individual awards and team win totals, often with long odds and hefty payouts attached.
In this article, we break down everything you’ll need to know to start futures betting. We discuss the markets you can bet on, how the wagers work, and go over different strategies like hedging and diversification. By the end, you’ll be ready to head out and start cashing in on your longterm predictions.
More on Futures Betting
What Is Futures Betting?
Futures betting is a relatively broad sports betting term that covers any wager settled by the outcome of an event that takes place in the future.
The most classic example of a future bet would be a wager on a specific league’s championship winner. For instance, a bet placed in August on a team to win the Super Bowl in February would fall under this category.
While championship futures are most common, other future bet examples include wagering on teams to win smaller titles like divisions or conference championships. Other team futures might involve whether a team will go over or under a given win total or whether they’ll make the playoffs. Of course, the totals and playoff odds will vary for each team in a league, so there are always plenty of options for team futures.
Sports betting apps also allow users to bet on player futures, another broad sub-category. Award markets are a common example of player future bets, as you can bet on who will win a specific league’s MVP, Rookie of the Year or Coach of the Year, among other options. You can also wager on season-long statistical outcomes such as home run totals for baseball players or touchdown totals for football players.
How Does Futures Betting Work?
At a basic level, futures odds work the same as any others. Minus-odds mean that your profit will be smaller than your stake. For instance, odds of -150 mean that you have to wager $150 to profit $100.
Plus-odds mean just the opposite; odds of +200 mean that a wager of $100 leads to $200 worth of profit. The difference between game odds and futures odds is how frequently you’ll see plus or minus odds.
When you place a futures bet on wins, statistics, or playoff qualification, the odds tend to be more straightforward. Depending on the type of futures bet, you can pick between two options, like over or under, or yes or no. Since you’re choosing between yes or no, the odds for these wagers closely resemble what you’d see from individual games. Some are super close between the two sides while others might have a bit of a gap.
Conversely, something like a championship or an award has plenty of options. Dozens or more teams or individuals are in the running, so every option will likely have plus odds. These options with relatively long odds can be super hard to hit, meaning you’ll get a significant payout if you’re right.
Is It Smart to Bet on Futures Markets?
Betting on futures is just as smart as betting on any other type of wager. If you do your homework and refrain from being rash, you can make quite a bit of money playing these long-term markets. Of course, certain strategies can help you find more success playing futures bets.
Whether you’re betting on NFL futures or picking NBA championship winners, the same concepts apply to having a good process. Let’s talk about some of the ways you can have success placing futures with different sportsbooks.
Futures Betting Strategy
Sports betting and stock market investments are viewed differently by the general public, but that largely comes down to the way most users treat them. Most stock investors act academically by making calculated, logical decisions.
However, plenty of sports bets are made haphazardly and may be more likely to be based on emotion and impulse. Some are made to have fun while watching an otherwise uninteresting game, some are made to blindly support one’s team, and some are simply made “just for the heck of it.” But there’s no reason this has to be the case. Futures bets can be researched as thoroughly as a major stock investment; you just have to choose to treat them as such.
Selling Your Futures Bet
One advantage you have with futures that you don’t have in the stock market is comparing odds and exploiting market discrepancies. For instance, BetMGM might have the Los Angeles Dodgers listed at +500 odds to win the World Series, but FanDuel has them at +800. You can pick whichever sportsbook gives you the best odds, whereas stock traders are stuck with the given share price for any one country.
Futures can even be bought at a low point and oftentimes, sold at a high point. Futures aren’t just available before the season, the odds change all year long based on game outcomes, and getting in on a team’s championship, postseason, or win total futures when they’re in the midst of a losing streak can be a great way to capture value.
Selling high isn’t always available, but sometimes it’s possible.
Let’s say, for instance, you bet on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl before the NFL season begins, and you invested $100 in them at +1000 odds. By the time it’s January and they’ve locked up their spot in the AFC Championship Game, their odds could be as low as +150.
Your investment has gained plenty of value at this point, just like a blue-chip stock bought low. The sportsbook might offer to buy you out; you won’t make the $1,000 you would have made if the bet hit, but a sum like $500 or $600 could be available. Know that these buy-out numbers are usually not very favorable, but they can be a way to ensure a chunk of cash.
Hedging in Futures Betting
Even if there’s no buy-out available, you can still “sell high” by employing a strategy known as “hedging.” If the Chiefs are heavily favored in the AFC Championship Game, you can bet on their opponent to guarantee that you’ll at least win back the stake from the original bet on that Chiefs future, or even guarantee some profit. If the Chiefs win, you can do the same in the Super Bowl once more.
Pros of Betting Futures
There are plenty of reasons why betting on future events is one of the most fun and potentially productive ways to wager. For one, as mentioned above, long odds give you a shot at a big payout. Other pros are as follows:
Bonus Bets Specific to Futures Betting
Online sportsbooks are sure to capitalize on bet types by offering specific promos. Find future-specific odds boosts or bonus bet packages where the qualifying bet must be on a futures wager to maximize your potential return even further.
Year-Round Availability
Another pro is that futures bets are just about always available, especially when it comes to major sports. You can bet on the World Series far before the MLB season starts, the English Premier League in the dead of the summer, or the Stanley Cup in August when there’s no daily hockey to bet on. This gives bettors who are particularly interested in a specific sport something to do all year long, even when their sport is out of season.
Chance to Get Good Deals
Futures also give you the chance to “beat news,” meaning that you bet on odds after learning major news but before the lines have changed. For instance, let’s say Michigan is +1000 to be crowned the college football national champion in February, but news breaks that they’ve secured a major transfer quarterback. You might have a chance to bet on those +1000 odds before they fall to, perhaps, something like +700.
Alternative to Day-to-Day Betting
Additionally, futures bets give you something to follow throughout an entire season without having to keep up with the day-to-day grind like you need to when betting on individual games. You can bet on something in either the distant or near future, so until only the final game is left, it’s never too late to get involved with futures.
Cons of Betting Futures
The biggest con with futures betting is the simplest one; futures bets are very hard to hit! You could come up with the best analysis in the world and make a great pick, but you’ll have to wait a long time for your payout. In that time, something supremely unpredictable could happen.
You could bet on the Boston Celtics to win the NBA title, just for the Denver Nuggets to trade for Kevin Durant midseason. You could pick the Green Bay Packers to win the Super Bowl, and Jordan Love could be suspended for the rest of the season in mid-October. That doesn’t mean your analysis was poor; you just got unlucky, which is always a tough way to lose a bet.
The other issue is that your money is tied up for quite a long time. If you bet on the NBA Finals in September, even if you win, that money is wrapped up until the following summer. The delayed payouts make bankroll management tough, though you can place shorter-term bets with the sportsbook in the meantime to see potential smaller returns.
Popular Futures Bets
Let’s talk about a few different futures that you can place on just about all of the popular online sportsbooks. Usually, futures are going to be placed on team sports. However, this is not always the case, as players can bet on markets such as golf’s Major Championships and tour results.
You could bet on Nikola Jokic to be named NBA MVP. Even if he’s the favorite, the value is still there -especially if you’re predicting well in advance of the end of the regular season. For the NFL, you might enjoy betting on a winner in the topsy-turvy AFC North. In baseball, betting the over on Aaron Judge’s home run total is one of the most fun bets in the game as he has a shot to crack that number even if he misses a month or so.
And of course, there’s March Madness. You can bet on a college basketball team to make the tournament, reach a certain stage like the Sweet Sixteen or Final Four, or win the whole thing. Whether you like betting on certain individual sports or if you’re interested in all of them, there’s got to be a popular futures bet for you offered by one or all of the major sports betting sites.
Should You Hedge Futures Bets?
We’ve talked a bit about hedging, which is the practice of making bets contrary to your futures bets that help you ensure a profit or at least a breakeven. Let’s dive into exactly how it works.
Hedging works differently from case to case. It’s not entirely necessary in some places, especially when buy-outs are available, but there’s almost always a way to do it effectively. It is worth noting that the cashout offers are not often particularly favorable numbers, so it’s good to know other ways to hedge.
When you’re placing futures bets, sometimes clear “hedge points” will be apparent right when you make your wager. For instance, let’s say you bet on Ohio State to win 11 of their 12 regular-season football games. They might have 10 games in which they’ll be heavily favored, one in which they have very low odds to win, and one that appears to be a relative toss-up. If you believe that the whole wager hinges on that one game, you could bet on the other team when the time comes if need be.
Other markets are tougher to hedge with individual games, at least up until the postseason or the end of the season, in cases like the English Premier League. In these instances, you might want to hedge by betting on a team that you consider to be the clear top competition to the team in which you’ve invested.
The Importance of Diversifying Futures Bets
In the vein of treating futures bets as if they were stock investments, let’s talk about having a diversified futures bet portfolio. This means having futures spread across different sports but also sometimes having multiple bets in the same futures markets. For instance, you could invest in an AFC team and an NFC team to win the Super Bowl to have multiple shots at winning it all.
The main overarching idea to remember is not to get too locked in on one potential income and be fully invested in it. Even the shortest futures, when it comes to something like an award or championship, usually have about +400 odds before the season starts, meaning an implied probability of 20%. Crazy things can happen, and the best-laid bets can go awry, so make sure to keep your options open.
Futures Betting FAQs
Check out these FAQs on futures betting so you can learn more about the practice and optimize your wagers:
What is futures betting?
Futures betting is a form of sports betting in which you invest in long-term events, such as season win totals, championships, and individual player awards.
Where can I place futures bets?
You can find current futures odds at just about every major online sportsbook operator in the United States. Additionally, you must be in a state with legal sports betting to participate.
Can I parlay futures bets?
You can typically parlay futures bets as long as the legs aren’t part of correlated markets. For instance, you wouldn’t be able to make a parlay if you were betting on the Eagles to win a division title and the Super Bowl, as the latter bet depends on the former to happen. You would, however, be able to parlay the Eagles to win the Super Bowl with the Phillies to win the World Series.
What are the advantages of futures bets?
One of the great things about futures bets is exactly what it sounds like; the ability to place bets on events occurring in the future. The payouts from these wagers can also be pretty major, and they give you something to follow throughout a long season.
