Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) celebrates with Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) after his goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Cotter (43) leans on the goal at right.
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The most popular sports betting season of the year wrapped up on Super Bowl Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs came back to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 as 2-point underdogs at Allegiant Stadium.
But the conclusion of the 2023-24 NFL campaign doesn’t mean it’s time for most sports bettors and bookmakers to pack up and go on vacation until training camps start back up this summer. On the contrary, the next few months of the sports betting calendar are jam-packed with gambling opportunities.
Nothing may bring the sheer one-day betting volume of the Super Bowl, but tickets will still be printing and apps will still be clicking.
Need a wager to stay in the action? Here are suggestions on futures bets on seven different major sports or sporting events coming up, after digging through the odds on all eight licensed betting apps in Nevada.
College Basketball: Arizona to win the NCAA Tournament at 12-to-1 (BetMGM)
March Madness is technically an even bigger betting event than the Super Bowl if judged in its three-week totality. This year’s version should be particularly compelling, with a handful of teams that have flashed elite potential, but no one looks as versatile and overwhelming as the Wildcats. Arizona has the athleticism to beat opponents in transition, the physicality to win rebounding battles and the shooting ability to run up the score. The challenge will be maintaining it all for six straight games to win its first title since 1997, but at these odds, it’s worth the risk.
Golf: Xander Schauffele to win the Masters at 28-to-1 (Boyd Sports)
The 2020 Olympic gold medalist is known as one of the best golfers in the world to have never won a major, with many wondering if it will ever happen. Schauffele’s reputation is not being able to finish in the biggest moments, but that’s unfair and history is littered with players who eventually win big. If the 30-year-old Schauffele breaks through at any major, it’s likely to come at Augusta National. He’s finished in the top 20 in four of the past five years at the Masters, including three top-10 finishes and two top-five placements. The Masters is a betting bonanza, but the time to get the bestvalue is in the months leading up to the event, which is scheduled to begin April 11 this year. Schauffele at this high of a price is a good example.
NBA: Los Angeles Clippers to finish regular season as Western Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed at +260 (i.e. risking $100 to win $260) (Caesars/William Hill)
Ever since the Clippers settled down and figured out their rotation after the blockbuster trade for former Most Valuable Player James Harden, they’ve been far and away the best team in the West. No one can match either their efficiency or their starpower with Harden creating a quartet of longtime standouts alongside Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook. The Western Conference playoffs will be rugged with competition and it’s hard to expect the older Clippers to stay healthy for two straight months in the more demanding postseason, but betting them this way avoids that potential pitfall.
NHL: Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup at +850 (Boyd Sports) and Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup at 10-to-1 (Caesars/William Hill)
Most sportsbooks have seven or eight teams at the top of the board in the 6- to 10-to-1 range, but these two should stand above the rest. Take away mediocre starts from both, and they’ve been the best teams in the NHL from a statistical perspective. Florida actually eclipsed expectations early considering it was dealing with so many injuries out of last year’s Stanley Cup Final run. Now the Panthers are healthy. The Oilers were dreadful to start the season, with goalie Stuart Skinner struggling to rediscover his form from last year and coach Jay Woodcroft’s message not getting through. But Skinner is now rolling and the whole team has responded to a coaching change from Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch.
MLB: New York Yankees to win the World Series at 10-to-1 (SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas)
The Dodgers stole all the offseason headlines with a parade of big-time moves, including signing two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, wooing Japanese mega-prospect Yoshinobu Yamamoto and trading for ace pitcher Tyler Glasnow. But the Yankees didn’t do so bad either, with a massive trade for perennial All-Star outfielder Juan Soto and the free agent signing of veteran pitcher Marcus Stroman. The Dodgers are the team to beat, but their +350 price is nearly three times lower than the Yankees’ odds. That’s too large of a gap, especially considering Ohtani will pay more dividends later in his record-breaking deal when he can both pitch and bat. The former Los Angeles Angel will only be hitting this year coming off elbow surgery.
NASCAR: Christopher Bell to win Cup Championship at 12-to-1 (STN Sports)
The nation’s biggest auto-racing organization strategically stages its biggest event one week after the Super Bowl, with the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 18. Bell might be worth a look there too at as high as 22-to-1, but it’s better value to bank on him emerging as a first-time overall Cup champion. All the chatter around NASCAR
is that Toyota has caught if not surpassed rival manufacturers Ford and Chevrolet coming into the new season. The 29-year-old Bell has been the surest Toyota driver long-term the past couple years, having twice reached the Cup championship Final Four. Now squarely in his racing prime, he’s set up to finish the job this year.
NFL: Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl 59 at 9-to-1 (Circa Sports) and Patrick Mahomes to win NFL Most Valuable Player at +750 (Caesars/William Hill)
The Chiefs feel inevitable, don’t they? As long as Mahomes is around, they are far and away the likeliest champion each and every year. Don’t take the “three-peat” declaration the star quarterback made at Allegiant Stadium after Super Bowl 58 lightly. Kansas City should be better on offense next year with young stars like Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco on value rookie contracts and likely to improve. The defense has some question marks—led by the free agency of dynasty centerpiece/all-world defensive tackle Chris Jones—but the Chiefs always seem to figure those out eventually. NFL betting season never truly ends, with sportsbooks sating demand by constantly posting odds looking ahead. The Chiefs’ historic run atop of the NFL may not be ending any time soon, either.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
