Placing a bet on an eventuality in sports that will not occur for an extended period of time is known as sports futures betting.The most popular form of this type of bet is to pick the winner of a league championship such as the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Finals before the respective seasons have even begun.
Allow me to share a personal story that involves futures betting. I am a native Chicagoan. While vacationing in Las Vegas during the summer of 1990, I happened to glance up at the huge odds board in the Caesars Palace Sports Book. In the "Futures" section I saw odds on the Bulls to win the 1990-91 NBA Championship posted at 8/1. All I knew about the team at the time was that they were pretty good and had a very good player by the name of Michael Jordan. I said to myself, "What the heck" and put down $50 on the team I would be rooting for all season anyway. So why not make it more interesting.
The result, of course, was the Bulls' first of 6 championships with MJ. I pocketed a nice profit of $400 and the team with Jordan on it never saw odds as high as 8/1 again. I share this tale as an example of how sports futures betting is more of a recreational wager than one commonly placed by hard core gamblers. Many a fan of a certain team will bet anywhere from $5 to $500 on their hometown entry.
The odds in sports futures betting are all over the board. Totals can be as high as +1000 meaning you can make $1,000 on a $100 wager. Good luck with that one, but you never know. This also brings us to a discussion of "juice" or the commissions affixed to futures betting. The odds makers have to attract enough interest to generate revenues. So these numbers can be exorbitant, as in the case of the +1000. On the other hand, there are some instances where one team is so heavily favored that the return on your investment is not worth it. The best example of this is perhaps the New England Patriots to win the AFC East title. The "Pats" have accomplished this feat 10 of the past 12 seasons since 2001. Therefore, don't be surprised when you see them listed at -1000, meaning you must bet $1,000 to win $100.
There are a multitude of sports futures betting possibilities available besides the league championships already mentioned. A popular choice and one that is a quickly approaching futures bet is to pick the winner of the mens NCAA Basketball Tournament otherwise known as "March Madness". You can also gamble on who the Most Valuable Player will be in each of the major sports, or even who will be the first baseball manager fired during the upcoming year. Another example of futures betting is the Over/Under on the number of games that will be won by a particular team for the approaching campaign.
Current Sports Futures Odds (As of 02/15/13)
To win the 2013 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament
FAVORITE - Michigan 4/1
LONGSHOTS - 48 teams tied at 1000/1
To win the 2013 MLB World Series
FAVORITES - Detroit Tigers, L.A. Dodgers, L.A. Angels all tied at 7/1
LONGSHOTS - Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins and New York Mets all tied at 100/1 (My Cubs are only 50/1 !)
To win the 2014 Super Bowl XLVIII
FAVORITE - New England Patriots 6/1
LONGSHOTS - Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars both at 150/1
