Yahoo Sports NFL odds: Who's getting the most action on future bets? Cowboys, Raiders, Bengals (!) and Kyler Murray for MVP
The Cincinnati Bengals finished 2-14 last season. As bettors will tell you, that doesn’t matter for this season.
Most of the teams and players getting the heaviest action for NFL season-long future bets at BetMGM should be easy to guess. The Las Vegas Raiders have an inordinate amount of bets on them, and that makes sense because Nevada is still the sports gambling capital and the locals are excited to have an NFL team. The Dallas Cowboys are heavily bet in any offseason, and that’s especially true after a buzzy offseason. Bettors are still happy to take the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champs.
The Bengals are an unlikely inclusion on that list though. There’s a lot more faith in rookie quarterback Joe Burrow than you might have imagined.
Who are bettors placing their NFL wagers on?
There haven’t been many Super Bowl bets on the Bengals. So people haven’t totally lost their minds.
But the Bengals are getting by far the most bets to win the AFC North. According to BetMGM, 71.5 percent of the total amount of money to come in on AFC North futures is on the Bengals. There are some big wagers involved there, since they’re getting just 31.5 percent of the bets. They are currently 25-to-1 to win the division. They’re also getting a lot of play to win the AFC championship at 50-to-1, with 6 percent of bets and 9.2 percent of the money on all AFC bets coming in on the Bengals. Only the Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers and Titans are getting a higher percentage of AFC championship money. Again, the Bengals were the worst team in football last season.
The Raiders have by far the most wagers at BetMGM to win the AFC at 40-to-1. They’re at 15.1 percent and the Chiefs are second at 10.9 percent. When the Vegas Golden Knights entered the NHL, many locals bet them to win it all, then almost got a miracle when the expansion team went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018. If the Raiders are better than expected, BetMGM will be sweating out the local team again.
The Cowboys are the other team dominating the futures market. An astonishing 98 percent of the money wagered on which team will win the NFC East title has come in on the Cowboys, who have -110 odds. The Giants are second on that list at 0.96 percent. One big bet on the Cowboys skews that number. But the Cowboys also lead in most bets (14.3 percent) and money (18.8 percent) on any team to win the NFC title.
The Chiefs are the only team to get more than 10 percent of the money wagered on which team will win the Super Bowl, at 18 percent. The Chiefs have the second-lowest Super Bowl odds at +600. The Ravens are the current favorite at +400.
Kyler Murray getting most MVP action
NFL MVP has become a fun futures market for NFL betting. Betting on MVP only became legal in the past few years in Nevada.
Here are the top players for MVP at BetMGM, in terms of percent of bets with current odds in parentheses:
Kyler Murray (+2500), 9.3 percent
Patrick Mahomes (+400), 6.7 percent
Tom Brady (+1600), 6.5 percent
Dak Prescott (+1400), 6 percent
Drew Lock (+6500), 5.3 percent
Those Lock bets could get interesting at those odds if the Broncos make a playoff push. It’s interesting to note that Lamar Jackson, last season’s MVP, is getting just 3.2 percent of bets at +700 odds. You live in a world in which more people bet on Drew Lock than Lamar Jackson to win MVP.
It’s easy to follow the logic on Murray. Mahomes and Jackson won MVPs in their second seasons, and Murray is set up for success in his second season. With DeAndre Hopkins to throw to in an up-tempo offense, Murray could put up some huge numbers. He certainly has the talent. And the odds are enticing.
The NFL season kicks off on Thursday. Let the sweats for future bets begin.
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