What Is a Futures Bet? Futures Betting Explained
In September you can put $100 on a team to win a game that will not be played until February. If they pull it off, you might collect $750. If they miss the playoffs, the ticket is dead by New Year's. That is a futures bet: a wager on how a season ends, placed long before it does.
How a futures bet works
You pick an outcome, the sportsbook gives you a price, and that price is locked on your ticket. The market keeps moving as games are played, injuries happen and public money comes in, but your odds stay exactly what they were when you placed the bet. The ticket settles once the outcome is official.
As of September 20, 2026, one major sportsbook had the Los Angeles Rams at +650 to win Super Bowl LXI. A $100 bet at that price returns $750 (your $100 back plus $650 profit) if the Rams win it all. Anything else, and the $100 is gone. See the full 2026 Super Bowl odds board for every team.
Types of futures bets
| Market | What you are betting on | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Championship | Which team wins the title | Super Bowl, college football national championship |
| Conference and division | Which team wins a conference or division | AFC champion, SEC champion |
| Awards | Which player wins a season award | NFL MVP, Heisman Trophy |
| Win totals | Over or under a team's season win number | Over/under 10.5 wins |
| Playoff props | Whether a team makes or misses the playoffs | Yes/No to make the playoffs |
| Season leaders | Which player leads a stat category | Most passing yards, most rushing TDs |
How to read futures odds
Futures are almost always listed in American odds with a plus sign, because most outcomes are long shots. The number tells you the profit on a $100 bet, and you can convert it to an implied probability to see how likely the book thinks it is. Our guide on how to read betting odds walks through the math.
| Team (Sept 20, 2026) | Odds | $100 returns | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Rams | +650 | $750 | 13.3% |
| Buffalo Bills | +700 | $800 | 12.5% |
| Baltimore Ravens | +1000 | $1,100 | 9.1% |
| Seattle Seahawks | +1100 | $1,200 | 8.3% |
| Kansas City Chiefs | +1200 | $1,300 | 7.7% |
Super Bowl LXI odds from a major sportsbook, September 20, 2026. Prices move weekly.
Why futures carry more margin than game lines
On a normal point spread priced -110 on both sides, the two implied probabilities add up to about 104.8%. The extra 4.8 points are the vig. Futures work the same way, but the extra is much larger. Add up the implied probability of all 32 teams on that September 20 Super Bowl board and you get roughly 123%.
That does not make futures a bad bet. It means the price matters even more than usual. The same team can be +650 at one book and +800 at another, and that gap is real money. Shopping futures prices is where casual bettors leave the most on the table.
Futures vs. game bets
When betting a future early makes sense
The case for betting early is simple: if you are right about a team before the market is, you get a price that will not be there later. A team that opens at +3000 and starts 6-0 might be +800 by November. The ticket you bet at +3000 is now worth a lot more than you paid for it.
The case against is just as real. A single injury to a starting quarterback can end a futures bet in one snap, your money is locked up all season, and the margin is heavier than on a weekly spread. Futures are best treated as a small slice of your bankroll, a quarter or half unit, not a core bet.
How to hedge a futures bet
Say you hold that $100 ticket at +650 and your team reaches the Super Bowl. If the opponent is +130 in the big game, betting about $326 on the opponent locks in roughly $324 profit no matter who wins: $650 minus $326 if your team wins, or $424 minus the original $100 if the other side does. The numbers here are illustrative; our hedge betting guide shows how to run the math for your own ticket.
How futures bets are settled
- Championships and awards are graded when the result is official. Awards like MVP are settled on the official announcement, not the last regular-season game.
- Injuries do not void a ticket. At most sportsbooks, player and team futures are action once placed, even if the player is hurt or the team collapses.
- Win totals can push. If the line is a whole number and the team lands on it exactly, stakes are usually refunded. Check the house rules for how canceled games are handled.
How to bet a future in five steps
Futures questions people ask most
What does a futures bet mean in sports betting?
Can you cash out a futures bet early?
Do futures bets pay out if a player gets injured?
Are futures bets worth it?
When is the best time to bet futures?
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