MLS Betting Odds

Even though the U.S. is one of the rare places on the planet where soccer is not the most popular sport, things have changed over the last few years. The rise in popularity of Major League Soccer and investment in foreign talent has brought the league a much higher status.

Ohioans are particularly keen on the sport these days, as the Columbus Crew won the MLS Cup in 2020, their second MLS title. Couple that success with the emergence of FC Cincinnati 100 miles down I-71, and Ohio has itself a legitimate MLS rivalry. In fact, matches between the two clubs are donned the “Hell Is Real Derby.”

With legal sports betting in Ohio, you can expect to find that MLS, and soccer in general, can be a fun option for betting. This page will cover the key aspects to know about betting on MLS in Ohio, including the top online sportsbook bonuses, live MLS game odds, and soccer betting tips.

This week’s MLS odds: Moneylines, spreads, totals

Here are the current MLS betting odds as posted at top sportsbook apps in Ohio. Click on any odds to go directly to the sportsbook and start placing bets.

Columbus Crew team profile

• Year founded: 1994
• Stadium: Lower.com Field
• Capacity: 20,371
• President: Tim Bezbatchenko
• Captain: Jonathan Mensah
• MLS Cups: 2 (2008, 2020)
• Supporters’ Shields: 3 (2004, 2008, 2009)

(To see current Columbus Crew odds, check the MLS odds feed above. If you don’t see a Crew game, they either aren’t playing that day or odds have yet to be posted. To see more on the Crew, visit our dedicated Columbus Crew odds page.)

FC Cincinnati team profile

• Year founded: 2016
• Stadium: TQL Stadium
• Capacity: 26,000
• General Manager: Jeff Berding
• Captain: Luciano Acosta
• MLS Cups: 0
• Supporters’ Shields: 0

(To see current FC Cincinnati odds, check the MLS odds feed above. If you don’t see a FC Cincinnati game, they either aren’t playing that day or odds have yet to be posted. To see more on FC Cincinnati, visit our MLS betting odds page.)

How to bet on MLS in Ohio

Each MLS game can have dozens of bets to pick from. Let’s start with the basic ones: moneylines, spreads and totals.

MLS moneylines

How do moneylines work? With MLS moneylines, the goal is just to pick the winner of the game. Since soccer games can also end in draws, bettors can pick from among three potential outcomes, although you may find draw-no-bet markets in certain sportsbooks. These return your stake in case there are no winners after 90 minutes.

MLS point spreads

With spreads, the underdog between the two teams will have a number of handicap goals as an advantage. For example, if you’re unsure that the Columbus Crew will win, but you’re also confident that they won’t lose by two goals or more, you can bet on them with a spread of +1.5. In this scenario, the Crew will need to win, tie, or lose by only one goal.

MLS totals

Totals (over/unders) don’t involve picking a team to win. Instead, you’re betting on the combined total score of the game. For example, if FanDuel Sportsbook in Ohio sets a line at 2.5, you’ll be guessing whether the total number of goals will be over or under that line, regardless of which team wins.

Here are some additional popular MLS bets:

• Double chance
• Half-time/full-time
• Correct score
• Halves
• Cards
• Corners
• Player/team props and futures

How to read MLS soccer odds

Let’s say that FC Cincinnati are playing DC United. The odds of an FC Cincinnati win are +135, which means a wager of $100 would return a profit of $135 on a winning bet. If the odds were -135, you would need to wager $135 to win $100.

Everything revolves around the number 100 for easy calculation, but you can always wager more or less than those sums. If you were to wager $20 on DC United with odds of +225 and win, you would get $45 in profit.

Note that certain sportsbooks might change their odds before kickoff. There could be a couple of reasons for this. First, there might be a sudden change in the lineups, like a team announcing that its star player won’t play due to injury.

Another reason is that sportsbooks always want to attract equal action on both sides, as it’s the best way of ensuring profit. If one side attracts more bets than the other, the oddsmakers will change the betting odds on the other side to be more attractive.

Other popular soccer bets available

Moneylines, spreads and totals are some of the first bets that come to mind when you think about soccer betting. However, for more soccer-centric bets, halves and corners are two that stand out.

Halves

With halves betting, you’ll get to place many of the standard bets, but instead of being for the whole game, they’ll be for either the first or second half. Some popular bets here include the moneyline, total goals, correct score, team to score (yes/no), both teams to score, and higher-scoring half.

Corners

There will almost always be more corner kicks than goals in a soccer game, making betting on corners a very interesting proposal. You can bet on which team will have more corners, over/under on total corners, individual team corners and more.

MLS player props and futures

Apart from betting on teams or an entire game, Ohio sports betting sites will also allow you to place wagers on individual players through several player props. For example, at DraftKings Ohio you can bet on whether a player will score and when (first/last goal), whether he will score with a header, if he will get a yellow or red card and more.

MLS futures are also a pretty popular bet, with player futures like scoring leader, assist leader and league MVP.

Live MLS betting

You can also wager on every MLS game even after kickoff. The sportsbook will offer all the same bets as in the pregame period but also add a few specific to live micro betting, like next goal interval, team/player to score next, goals in the next 10 minutes and others.

MLS live betting can be exciting, but it’s also very time-sensitive. Soccer betting lines and odds can change rapidly, so you’ll want to be able to place any bets quickly, either online or via an app.

MLS playoff odds

Unlike many European soccer leagues, MLS has playoffs that begin after the conclusion of the regular season. The best seven teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, with top teams progressing directly to the conference semifinals.

The other teams form conference brackets and play a knockout tournament. After the conference champions are decided, they meet in the big final to determine the winner of the MLS Cup.

During the playoffs, you can bet on the winner of the MLS Cup at all times, although you can do this during the regular season, as well. Refer to the odds feed above to find the best odds for betting on the outright winner or any other available futures.

Recent MLS winners

Top Ohio players in Major League Soccer

Here are some of the most notable current and former MLS players born in Ohio:

• Chad Barson
• Austin Berry
• Eric Brunner
• Marc Burch
• Evan Bush (current Columbus Crew goalkeeper)
• Stefan Cleveland
• Alex Crognale
• Brad Friedel
• Ross Friedman
• Steve Gillespie
• Nick Hagglund
• Kevin Hartman
• Aaron Horton (retired)
• Chris Korb
• Chris Leitch
• Michael Nanchoff
• John Nelson
• Danny O’Rourke
• Troy Perkins
• Chris Rolfe
• Kofi Sarkodie
• Kyle Smith
• Ben Speas
• Seth Stammler
• Brad Stuver
• Wil Trapp
• Josh Williams

How to watch MLS online in Ohio

If you’re planning to bet on MLS games, you may also want to be familiar with the teams and watch the games. You’ll find select games on either ESPN or FS1. What’s more, certain sportsbooks stream MLS games and will allow you to watch them for free if you have an active account.