Futures Betting

Futures Betting Explained

There's nothing complicated in futures betting. In fact, futures markets are probably the easiest to understand and bet on. In a nutshell, when you are betting futures, also known as outright bets, you pick a team or a player and back them to win a particular competition, league, tournament, trophy, or award. You can place futures bets before or during the season, but have to wait for the season to end to learn if you have won or not.

And that's where the name futures bets comes from. It takes time for a season to finish and trophy winners to be announced. So, for longer leagues and tournaments, you will often have to wait for months before you discover whether you have won your futures bet. On the other hand, if you are betting on a shorter tournament like the FIFA World Cup or NCAA March Madness, you will know if you have won within a month or so.

You can place both player and team futures. When you bet on teams, you usually predict how well they will do in a given competition. For example, you can back the Milwaukee Bucks to win the NBA Finals or Real Madrid to win the UEFA Champions League. In contrast, for players, you wager on individual achievements, such as top goal scorer, MVP winner, best goalkeeper, Heisman Trophy winner, and so on.

Futures Betting Markets and Examples

There are various types of futures markets, but in general, they can be divided into team and player futures bets. We will analyze both and will look at some of the most popular futures bets punters go for. Stay with Betpack to learn how to make the most of each outright bet you place.

Team Futures Bets

When you place team futures bets you predict which team will win a particular competition. However, there a lot of options, and you are not only restricted to the winners of leagues and tournaments. You can also bet on division and conference winners, as well as teams that will get relegated, reach the playoffs, qualify for continental competitions, and many other outright bets. These are some of the most popular futures bets.

League Winners

One of the most common outright bet types is betting on the winner of a particular league or national competition. That competition can be the English Premier League, the NFL, the NBA, MLB, MLS, Bundesliga, etc. Basically, you wager on which of all the teams participating in a given league will win it at the end of the season.

Let's look at an easy example to explain this. Imagine it is August, and the English Premier League is about to start. You already have some ideas about how well teams will do and are pretty sure that Manchester City will win the title come May next year.

So, you back City to win the EPL. Now, you wait and enjoy the EPL action, probably focusing most of your attention on Manchester City matches. If the Citizens win the title when the season finishes in May, you will win your futures bet. Pretty straightforward, right?

Tournament Winners

You can also place futures bets on elimination-type tournaments, such as the UEFA Champions League, the EuroLeague, the ICC's Men's Cricket World Cup, the NBA In-Season Tournament and many others. For instance, you can back Barcelona to win the Champions League or India to win the Cricket World Cup. You can do something similar when betting on post-season and playoff-type tournaments, such as the MLB World Series, the College Football Playoff, the NBA post season, and Stanley Cup Playoffs or bet on which team will win the Super Bowl.

Conference and Division Winners

The great thing about futures betting options is that you can wager on the conference and division winner of your choice. For instance, you can back the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the NL West Division. Similarly, if you are into betting on the NFL, you can predict that the Green Bay Packers will be the conference winner and be the top team in the NFC. You can also pick the Packers as the NFC North Division winners. If the competition you are betting on is divided into divisions and conferences, you can be sure that the best online bookmakers will give you the sports betting futures markets for those conferences and divisions.

Player Futures Bets

Let's now look at player futures bets. Let's say you think Patrick Mahomes will be chosen as the NFL MVP of the regular season. You can easily turn that prediction into an outright winner. All you need to do is back the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback to win the NFL MVP award before the season begins. If the talented quarterback does indeed win the prestigious National Football League MVP for the regular season, you will win your futures bet.

Similarly, if you are more of an NCAA Football fan, you can bet on the winner of the Heisman Trophy, the equivalent of the NFL MVP award, or on the Most Valuable Player in the NBA. In addition to the MVP award, you can also bet on the top goal scorer, the best defensive player, the most reliable goalkeeper, and any other recognition officially recognized by the competition you are betting on.

Conclusion

As you can see, futures bets allow you to bet on both players and teams and add to the excitement of the sports you follow. Because future bets cover entire seasons, they are ideal for casual bettors who want to watch an entire season of matches without betting every gameweek. Future bets are also a good option for punters who wager regularly. Seasoned bettors combine them with pre-match and live bets and increase the excitement of their futures bets even further.

If you want to make the most of your futures bets, do your research before placing a bet and consider using a proven futures betting strategy. Staying on top of futures odds changes always helps and so does reading relevant news, or keeping tabs on injury reports and suspension updates. At Betpack, we give you all the tools you need for educated futures bets. So, go through our futures betting tips, pick top sports betting sites and place your first bet on futures like a pro.