Coming off of a second consecutive World Series victory — this time a seven-game thriller over the Toronto Blue Jays — the Los Angeles Dodgers are once again the betting favorites at sportsbooks to win the World Series and complete the sport’s first three-peat since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
This year, though, Los Angeles is an even bigger favorite than the last two seasons.
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The Dodgers (+225 at BetMGM; higher at some other sportsbooks) have their shortest preseason World Series odds as a franchise since at least 1985, per Sports Odds History. Los Angeles had +350 odds in the preseason in 2024 and +240 odds last year. The Dodgers also have the shortest World Series odds of any MLB team in more than 20 years.
The last time a team had shorter odds to win it all was the 2003 Yankees (+200) — a team that made the World Series but lost to the Florida Marlins. Recent history hasn’t been kind for preseason World Series favorites — the team with the best preseason World Series odds has won it all only four times since 2001, and that includes the Dodgers the last two seasons — but Los Angeles may have so much talent that it doesn’t matter.
“There’s a significant gap in talent as well,” Halvor Egeland, BetMGM trading strategy manager, told Yahoo Sports, “The Dodgers are in a tier of their own.”
To wit, no other MLB team has World Series odds in the single digits. The New York Yankees (10-1), Seattle Mariners (13-1), Toronto Blue Jays (13-1) and New York Mets (14-1) have the next-best odds. The Dodgers have a win total of 103.5 — the next highest win total is the New York Mets and Yankees at 90.5.
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Los Angeles has the most wagers and most dollars wagered to win the World Series at multiple sportsbooks.
“The Dodgers are by far taking the most action in terms of bets and handle,” Egeland noted. “They are our biggest liability among competitive teams. The Mariners and Blue Jays round out the top three in both categories [handle and wagers] but it’s a relatively sizable gap.”
The short odds aren’t stopping the betting public from backing Los Angeles to get its three-peat, though, including putting the Dodgers in the currently en vogue futures parlay.
“The Dodgers are definitely the most bet team with the most handle and one of the teams we do most poorly on, even though they have the shortest odds,” Eric Biggio, MLB trader at Caesars Sportsbook said. “People are also putting Los Angeles to win the World Series in futures parlays with Scottie Scheffler to win the Masters, Oklahoma City to win the NBA title, etc.”
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It’s not a surprise that the public loves the Dodgers, as the team has won the NL West crown in a shocking 12 of the past 13 seasons and made the postseason every year. Los Angeles is a prohibitive favorite at -650 to win the NL West again this season, an implied probability of 86.7%.
The Colorado Rockies have the longest odds to win the World Series, at 1,000-1 odds.
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