The MLS is the top professional soccer league in North America. Major League Soccer is continuing to grow in popularity here in the United States and I expect it’s viewership and betting action to close the gap on the big four North American sports leagues over the next few years.
This year the MLS regular season begins on February 25th and will conclude on October 21st. Teams will play a full 34 game schedule, which will be followed by the MLS Cup Playoffs. There will be an expanded MLS Cup Playoffs format used this season, with the top nine teams in each conference qualifying for playoffs. The MLS Cup Final is scheduled for December 9th, 2023.
There will be a pause in the season from July 21st to August 19th during which teams will compete in a month-long Leagues Cup tournament in combination with the top Mexican soccer league, Liga MX.
On this page I will recommend a betting site for Americans looking to bet on the MLS, look at the top three bets made on MLS matches, and provide a simple 3 step guide you can follow to place your MLS bets online from anywhere in the US.
Best Betting Site for Major League Soccer
Bovada.lv is our top rated betting site for Americans interested in betting on MLS.
Bovada is the most trusted and popular betting site serving the US market. They have a huge selection of betting options for every MLS match.
MLS Betting Options
There are three bets that are featured on Bovada for every MLS game. These include the spread, money line (1×2) and total (over/under).
Below I will use the odds from the Nashville SC vs New York City FC opening match for the 2023 MLS season to show examples of these three popular MLS bets.
Spread
The spread is meant to even the playing field between two clubs. The favorite must win by more than the spread amount for a bet to win, while the underdog must either win the game or keep the game within the spread for an underdog bet to win.
In this example Nashville SC is the favorite and the spread is -0.25. Half of the spread bet will go towards a 0 spread and half will go towards -0.5. This means if Nashville wins the match they will also cover the spread and the entire bet will be a winner. If the match ends in a draw then the half of the bet that went towards a spread of 0 will push and the half that went to a spread of -0.5 will lose.
To Win (1X2)
This bet is also known as the money line. It’s the most straight forward wager because you are simply betting on the outcome of the match (Team A, Team B or Draw). The odds will reflect the risk vs reward for each potential outcome.
In this example Nashville SC has odds of +115 to win the match, so a $100 bet on Nashville would payout $215 (win $115) if they won the match.
New York City FC has odds of +240, so a $100 bet on NYCFC would win $240 (payout $340) if they pulled off the upset. A Draw is the least likely outcome with odds of +250.
Total (Over/Under)
The oddsmaker will set a total for each MLS match and you can wager on whether the amount of goals scored in the match (by both teams combined) will be over or under that “total”.
In this example the total is set at 2.5. Over bets would win if 3 or more goals are scored in the match, and under bets would win if 2 or fewer goals are scored.
These are the three most common bets on MLS matches, but as you can see from the ‘+116 Bets’ in the screenshots above there over 100 bets you can make on each match at Bovada.lv.
MLS Betting in the US – 3 Step Guide
Complete these three steps to get your bets placed on MLS matches from anywhere in the USA.
Step 1. Join Bovada.lv
Click the above link and fill out the short form on the home page top create your account.
Bovada is our #1 rated betting site for Americans.
Step 2. Deposit
Log into your new account and click on the ‘Deposit’ link under your accounts drop down menu in the top right corner of the screen. Select one of the deposit methods and follow the instructions to fund your account.
Bovada accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and MatchPay (PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, etc.) deposits.
Step 3. Place Your MLS Bets
Click ‘Sports’ from the top menu bar and select ‘Soccer’ from the list of sports.
Open the ‘Soccer A-Z’ menu in the left sidebar and select ‘North America’ -> ‘United States’ -> ‘MLS’.
Click on the bet you want to make to add it to your Bet Slip. Enter your risk amount and click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in your wager.
That’s it. Ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
Tagged With : Major League Soccer • MLS • MLS Betting • MLS Soccer