With most MLS teams taking the weekend off for the March international window, it's a good time to look at how bettors are thinking about the battle for MLS Cup 2022.
According to data released Friday from the BetMGM sportsbook, the most individual bets have been made on Nashville to win MLS Cup. Philadelphia are a close second, followed more distantly by Atlanta, Seattle and NYCFC.
Here's a deeper look at the top five, sorted by the percentage of total wagers (or tickets) issued on each team. Their opening odds, current odds and total handle percentage – i.e. the portion of the total amount of money wagered – are also listed below.
Some quick explainers:
- Odds listed at +1000 represent a bet that would pay $1,000 in profit for every $100 wagered.
- Where the percent of the handle is greater than the percent of the tickets, the average amount of money wagered per bet is higher. It's vice versa for the opposite scenario.
- Opening odds: +2500
- Current odds: +1450
- Handle: 15.4%
Bettors on Nashville SC are making lots of wagers, but cautious, smaller ones following their defeat on penalties to Philly in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Perhaps that's due to the lucrative opening odds of +2500. Manager Gary Smith's squad is halfway through an eight-game, season-opening road trip. They'll play 17 of their last 26 matches at home once they open GEODIS Park on May 1.
- Opening odds: +1600
- Current odds: +1350
- Handle: 33.4%
The Philadelphia Union recently got a measure of revenge for their 2021 Eastern Conference Final defeat with their first-ever win at NYCFC's Yankee Stadium in Week 4. And with 33.4% of the overall handle taken in, big spenders are backing the Union as a team potentially on a mission after last year's Audi MLS Cup Playoff run was derailed following an ill-timed COVID-19 cluster within the team.
- Opening odds: +1600
- Current odds: +2200
- Handle: 3.2%
One of the longer shots on this list in terms of odds, the legacy of Atlanta United's 2018 MLS Cup title and continued high-profile squad investments (most recently, the league-record signing of Thiago Almada) are making believers out of the public. Games like their rally from two down in a 3-3 draw to CF Montréal won't hurt either, even if they entered that fixture as substantial favorites.
- Opening odds: +700
- Current odds: +750
- Handle: 3.2%
Seattle Sounders FC are in a similar position to their Concacaf Champions League semifinal opponent with four points from their first four matches. They've also been without 2021 team scoring leader Raul Ruidiaz, who has been kept from his regular-season debut with a hamstring issue, and midfield maestro Nicolas Lodeiro isn't quite at full speed yet either. That may explain why bettors believe better times are ahead.
- Opening odds: +1000
- Current odds: +1050
- Handle: 5.6%
The defending MLS Cup champions have had a middling start to their domestic campaign while also making a run to the CCL semifinals. That hasn't scared off bettors, who may be expecting an improvement from New York City FC once reigning Golden Boot presented by Audi winner Taty Castellanos and company put all their attention on the league.
