Major League Soccer betting guide

Major League Soccer (MLS) has grown into a 30-club, cross-border competition spanning the United States and Canada, with San Diego FC’s 2025 arrival marking the league’s 30th season.

For soccer betting, that means more markets than ever: week-to-week MLS odds, live betting, same-game parlays, MLS Cup futures, and Golden Boot predictions across the Eastern and Western Conferences. The league’s single-entity structure still underpins competitive balance and expansion, helping fuel steady growth on and off the pitch.

Star power continues to drive interest and form lines. The Messi era at Inter Miami has added a global spotlight alongside recent teammates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez, while past icons such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Wayne Rooney, Kaká, Didier Drogba and Andrea Pirlo have all elevated the league’s profile and betting handle.

Schedule-wise, MLS now shares the winter-to-autumn calendar with a month-long Leagues Cup against Liga MX in mid-season—another valuable data point for form and injuries before the MLS Cup Playoffs. With every match available globally via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, punters can track line-ups, travel, and short-turnarounds in real time to find an edge.

How do I bet on the MLS?

Start by choosing a licensed, reputable sportsbook in your state or country. Look for strong MLS odds, regular promos (odds boosts, parlay insurance), fast payouts and live-betting markets. Create an account, verify your details, set a bankroll you can afford to lose, and stick to a unit size so you’re betting consistently rather than chasing results.

Understand the core MLS betting markets before you dive in. Moneyline, spread (goal line) and totals are the weekly staples, while player props (shots, goals, assists), same-game parlays, MLS Cup futures and Golden Boot odds let you take longer-term positions. With every match available on MLS Season Pass, live betting is popular—watch line movement around team news, in-game injuries and momentum swings.

Do a quick pre-match checklist. Confirm starting line-ups and late withdrawals, track travel and rest (mid-week fixtures, cross-country flights, altitude at Colorado, summer heat), and note schedule congestion around the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup. Home/away splits, turf vs grass, and expected-goals trends are useful indicators when prices are tight.

Finally, shop prices across multiple MLS betting sites to secure the best number and use promos strategically rather than habitually. If the fun stops, stop—set limits, take breaks and bet responsibly.

Our top-rated MLS betting sites are below:

How many teams are in the MLS?

As of 2025, Major League Soccer has 30 teams and as is the case in most major US sporting leagues, the MLS is split into two separate conferences – East and West:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

How does the MLS season, playoffs and finals work?

MLS Regular Season

MLS has 30 clubs split into Eastern and Western Conferences. Each team plays 34 matches (17 home, 17 away): home-and-away against every opponent in its own conference (28 games) plus six cross-conference games. The best overall regular-season record wins the Supporters’ Shield, and the final weekend is “Decision Day.” There’s also a mid-season Leagues Cup window that briefly overlaps with league play in August under the revised 2025 format.

Who makes the MLS Playoffs?

Eighteen clubs qualify—nine from each conference. Seeds 1–7 go straight to Round One. Seeds 8 and 9 in each conference play a single-elimination Wild Card game to join them. That structure has been in place since 2023 and continued through 2024, with 18 teams participating.

MLS Playoffs Round One

Round One is a best-of-three series using a home-away-home format for the higher seed. Each game must produce a winner: if a match is level after 90 minutes, it goes straight to a penalty shootout (no extra time, no away goals, and no aggregate scoring). First team to two wins advances.

MLS Conference Semifinals & Conference Finals

From the Semifinals onward it’s single-elimination at the higher seed’s stadium. If tied after 90 minutes, these matches use two 15-minute extra-time periods and, if needed, penalties to decide a winner.

MLS Cup (the final)

The Eastern Conference champion meets the Western Conference champion in a one-off final hosted by the remaining club with the superior regular-season points total among the two finalists (i.e., the higher Supporters’ Shield ranking). The winner lifts MLS Cup and is the league champion.

Typical bet types available on MLS

Like any sporting competition, a decent bookmaker will have a wide variety of soccer betting markets available. From futures markets, to match odds and exotics in between, if you there’s a result at stake, you should be able to find a bet for it. Here are some the typical betting markets that you might find on any given MLS market.

MLS Futures markets & MLS Team exotics

Futures markets are exactly that – a result that you bet on that will occur down the track. These include, but are not limited to:

• MLS champion
• Team to make playoffs
• Team to finish on top of the table
• Team to miss the playoffs

Team exotics often come down to wins and goals scored on the season and will usually be presented as a handicap of plus or minus a certain number of wins – ie. if a team wins under or over 12.5 games, or scores under or over 40.5 goals, etc.

MLS Player Futures Markets

Golden Boot: Who will score the most goals for the season?

Season MVP: Which player will be named the Landon Donovan Award winner for best player at season’s end?

MLS Match Markets & Player Markets

Three-way betting:
Unlike most other sports, the draw is a real and regular possibility in soccer. That means there are three options, compared to the traditional two in its winners market: Team A to win, the game to draw, or Team B to win. How will you bet?

Double Chance:
Means exactly that – you get two bites of the cherry, with either both teams to win, or one of the teams, plus s draw. If any one of your results occurs, you win.

Total game score:
This is presented as an over or under and the stock figure is 2.5 goals. Some online bookmakers will provide alternate scores, such as 1.5, 3.5 or even 4.5, with odds varying accordingly. The total match score between the two teams has to go either over or under for you to win, depending on which way you bet.

Both teams to score:
A simple yes or no answer will do and all you have to do is choose correctly.

Goal ranges:
Predict how many goals there will be in a bracket. IE: 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc.

Half-time/full-time double:
You get several options here and have to pick the game result at both half-time and full-time in the game. So it might be draw at half-time and Team A to win at full-time, etc. It’s basically choosing two results.

Correct score:
Mean’s exactly that, predict exactly what the score will be in the match and you can win big.

Number of corners:
Same thing – how many corners will there be in the match.

Will there be a red card and total number of yellow cards:
It’s a yes or no answer for the red card and the yellows will be presented as an over or under, similar to the total match goals.

First goal scorer, last goal scorer and anytime goal scorer:
These over/under betting markets are good fun, especially when you’re favourite player is involved and are pretty self explanatory.

List of MLS Champions

The MLS Cup is the league’s championship game, played each year between the winners of the two conference finals. The LA Galaxy remains the competition’s most successful franchise, winning the title six times. D.C. United follows with four titles, while several teams have claimed multiple championships over the years.

List of Landon Donovan MVP Award winners