MLB World Series Odds and Futures

MLB World Series Odds and Futures - News Summary

• The Dodgers lead the World Series market as they chase a threepeat.
• The Brewers are second despite an MLB-best 103 wins and a 2-0 Division Series lead.
• The White Sox are the roughie after a three-hit shutout win to open their ALDS.
• The World Series starts Friday 23 October (US time), and the Brewers have home-field advantage if they get there.

The Milwaukee Brewers won an MLB-best 103 games, took both opening games of their Division Series against San Diego, and still sat behind the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sportsbet's World Series futures market on Monday, October 5.

The Dodgers are the shortest price to win the title, the Brewers are next, and the Rays, Yankees and Braves form the chasing pack. The White Sox and Guardians are well back, and the Padres, down 0-2 in their series, are the rank outsiders.

The World Series starts on Friday 23 October, US time, and prices have already moved since the Division Series began, so the opening games are the place to start.

Where the Division Series Stand

Eight teams survived the Wild Card round, and four best-of-five series are now underway.

Since the Division Series went to five games in 1995, the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73 per cent of the time, so the early results carry real weight in the futures.

National League

Milwaukee took both games at American Family Field, the second on a Jackson Chourio walk-off against Padres closer Mason Miller. That finish suited the team.

Of the Brewers' 103 regular-season wins, 42 were comebacks and six were walk-offs, so a late rally from them is no surprise to anyone who watched them in the regular season.

San Diego swept the Cubs in the Wild Card round, but now needs three straight wins, and the Padres had a controversial finish in Game 1 to stew over as well.

The Dodgers won Game 1 against Atlanta, then lost the second game on Sunday night when Michael Harris II tripled and scored the go-ahead run on a Kris Bubic wild pitch.

The series is level and heads to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. The Braves got there by winning a deciding Game 3 against the Phillies.

American League

The White Sox swept the Astros for their first playoff series win since the 2005 World Series, then opened the ALDS with a 3-0 win in Cleveland. Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer, five pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout, and Grant Taylor finished with a four-inning save.

Chicago used an opener or bullpen game an MLB-leading 31 times in the regular season, and the formula has held up so far.

Tampa Bay opened with a 1-0 win over the Yankees. Drew Rasmussen went eight innings, allowed one hit and struck out ten, and the no-hitter only ended in the eighth when Austin Wells doubled.

New York had swept Boston in the Wild Card round, outscoring the Red Sox 18-2, which makes the Game 1 shutout a jolt.

Those results sit behind every price in the futures market.

World Series Winner Odds

On Monday the Dodgers were the shortest price to win the World Series, and the logic is easy to follow. They are chasing a threepeat after back-to-back titles, and the roster still looks the part.

The Brewers were next in the market, then the Rays, with the Yankees and Braves sitting together a step further back. The White Sox and Guardians came after that, and the Padres were a long way out.

The order of the top two is the interesting part.

The Brewers were the shortest team to win the National League, narrowly ahead of the Dodgers, yet the Dodgers were shorter to win the whole World Series. The gap between them is small, but it is there, and it says the market still gives the champions the benefit of the doubt.

Prices move with every result, so this list will shift again. For the latest World Series odds and markets, check out our dedicated World Series winner odds page here at Sportsbet.

Beyond the outright market, the league and division prices show how the field is shaping up.

League and Division Markets

The National League is the shorter side of the market for a reason. The Dodgers, Brewers and Braves are all in the NL, and between them they carry most of the best prices on the board.

The American League is the longer side, and the Rays are the shortest team to win the pennant there.

The division prices tell a similar story with a twist. The NL West covers both the Dodgers and the Padres, so it was the shortest division price, with the AL East (Rays and Yankees) and the NL Central closely bunched behind it.

The Brewers carry the NL Central price entirely on their own, which is a lot to ask of one team. The AL Central and NL East were the longest, since the Braves are the only NL East team left and the AL Central is split between the White Sox and the Guardians.

The same logic runs through the smaller futures markets.

Finalists, First-Time Winners and State of Winner

Name the Finalists lets punters back both pennant winners in one bet. The Dodgers against the Rays and the Brewers against the Rays were the shortest pairings, because they join the two NL favourites with the AL's shortest team. Pairings that include the Padres were the longest, which tracks with their 0-2 hole.

The First-Time Winner market covers teams that have never won a World Series. Three of the eight left fit the bill, the Brewers, the Rays and the Padres, and the market makes a previous winner the shorter side.

That puts the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, White Sox and Guardians together on the other side, and a first-time champion would have to come from the Brewers, Rays or Padres.

State of Winner has the most interesting shape. The grouped option for any other state, which includes Wisconsin and Georgia, was the shortest price because it holds both the Brewers and the Braves. California, home to the Dodgers and the Padres, was next, and Florida, New York, Illinois and Ohio sat behind it.

Before the picks, the calendar matters, because the World Series falls in the middle of the Australian spring.

When the World Series Starts and How to Watch in Australia

Game 1 is on Friday 23 October and Game 2 follows on Saturday 24 October. After a travel day on Sunday, Games 3, 4 and 5 run from Monday 26 October to Wednesday 28 October, with another travel day on Thursday.

Game 6 is on Friday 30 October and a Game 7, if needed, is on Saturday 31 October. Those are US dates, so evening games land the next day in Australia.

The series is a best-of-seven in a 2-3-2 format. The team with the better regular-season record gets home-field advantage and hosts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7.

Since the Brewers finished with the best record in baseball, they would hold that advantage against any opponent. First pitch times haven't been announced yet, and Sydney and Melbourne will be on AEDT for the whole series, while Brisbane stays on AEST.

In the US the World Series is on FOX. In Australia, ESPN has been the home of MLB, with coverage through Kayo Sports and Foxtel, and MLB.TV is the other route.

Game-by-game coverage for the World Series hasn't been confirmed for Australia, so check which games your platform carries as the series gets closer.

With the schedule and the market laid out, the angles are where the opinions start.

Five Angles on the World Series Market

These five angles come from how the market is priced against what the Division Series have shown so far. They are opinions on the market, not guarantees, and a best-of-five can turn on a single pitch.

The Brewers Priced Behind the Champions

The best record in baseball, a 2-0 series lead and a habit of winning from behind are not the profile of the second favourite. If the Brewers get through, they would have home-field advantage in any World Series, which matters in a seven-game series.

The Dodgers are rightly respected, but being shorter than the Brewers is the clearest quirk on the page, and it makes Milwaukee the top angle.

The Dodgers Short for a Level Series

The Dodgers are priced like a team with the series in hand, yet it is level at 1-1 with a Braves side that had the better of Game 2 and now gets two games at home.

Back-to-back titles earn respect, but the Division Series is a best-of-five, and a short price on a team with a series still to win is the other side of the Brewers angle.

The White Sox as the Roughie

A longer price than both the Yankees and the Rays for a team that had not trailed in 27 postseason innings through Game 1 stands out.

Chicago hit 211 home runs, fifth in MLB, against Cleveland's 162, which ranked 27th, and the White Sox won the season series 7-6 despite the Guardians taking the division.

The bullpen-game approach is unusual and fragile, so this is a roughie, a punt for those who like a big price.

Brewers and Rays in the Finals

The Name the Finalists market pairs the two teams with the strongest early claims. The Brewers are the shortest team to win the NL and the Rays the shortest in the AL, and each opened its series with a win.

This is a longer-range angle, since it needs both teams to survive two more rounds, and as such it sits at a bigger price than the outright winner market.

The Padres, an Outsider With a Reason

The Padres are not a pick. Down 0-2, they need three straight wins, with a deciding Game 5 in Milwaukee if it gets there.

They swept the Cubs and have a bullpen that can finish games, but they lost Game 1 on a controversial finish and Game 2 on a walk-off against their own closer. The price reflects that, and so does the arithmetic of a best-of-five.

Prices move after every game, so the market will look different by the time the Championship Series begin.