A futures bet is a wager on an outcome that won't be determined until the end of a season or tournament. The most common examples: Super Bowl winner, NBA Finals champion, World Series winner, regular season award winners, and win totals.
How Futures Bets Work
You place a bet now, at the current odds, and those odds are locked in at that moment. If you bet a team to win the Super Bowl at +600 in September, you keep that price even if they become -150 favorites by January.
Your money is tied up until the season ends or your team is eliminated. If the team is eliminated, you lose your bet. If they win, you collect at the odds you locked in.
Types of Futures Bets
Championship futures: Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, Stanley Cup — who wins the whole thing
Division/conference futures: Which team wins their division or conference
Season win totals: Will a team win more or fewer than X games this season
Individual awards: MVP, Cy Young, Heisman Trophy — who wins specific awards
Finding Futures Value
Early season value: Books set pre-season futures on prior-year performance and offseason analysis. Early-season injuries, unexpected performances, and coaching adjustments create mispricing that resolves over time.
Overreaction opportunities: A legitimate contender that starts 0-3 might see their championship odds balloon from +600 to +1500 without their true probability changing dramatically. Market overreaction to small samples creates buying opportunities.
Win totals: Often more predictable than outright champions. Research team schedules, depth charts, and opponent quality to find totals that are mispriced.
[Track your futures bets alongside game bets in Oddible →]
