A futures bet is a bet on who wins a whole season or tournament, such as the Super Bowl, placed long before it is decided. The upside is a long price and a chance to act before the market moves; the cost is a much bigger margin than a single-game bet and money that sits with the book for months.
On September 25, 2026, DraftKings’ Super Bowl board on ESPN had the Los Angeles Rams favored at +620, and the prices on all 32 teams added up to 122.8% in implied chance. A standard game at -110 on both sides adds up to 104.8%.
What a futures price means
Every price converts to the chance you need to break even. For an underdog price, divide 100 by the price plus 100: +620 needs a 13.9% chance, and +1100 needs 8.3%.
| Team | Super Bowl price | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Rams | +620 | 13.9% |
| Buffalo Bills | +750 | 11.8% |
| Baltimore Ravens | +950 | 9.5% |
| Seattle Seahawks | +1000 | 9.1% |
| San Francisco 49ers | +1050 | 8.7% |
| Kansas City Chiefs | +1100 | 8.3% |
A futures bet is worth making only when you rate a team’s chance higher than its price does. A 20% view of the Rams clears their 13.9% price; a 10% view does not.
The case for futures
The first advantage is timing. The board above was posted before most of the NFL season had been played, and a price taken early can be better than the one on offer once the season has answered some questions about a team.
The second is the payout. A single bet at +1000 returns $1,000 profit on $100, and you only need to be right once. For bettors who follow a sport closely, that is a way to back a read on a whole season without betting every week.
The case against, and why it usually wins
The margin is the problem. On a -110 game the book builds in about 4.8 points over 100%. On the Super Bowl board above it built in 22.8 points, spread across 32 teams. At the bottom of that board the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals were +30000, 0.3% each, and the Miami Dolphins +100000, 0.1%.
Your money is also tied up. A Super Bowl bet placed in September is not settled until the game in February 2027, and the stake cannot be used for anything else in between. A $100 bet on a -110 game this weekend is settled within a day, and the money is free for the next bet.
Things change while you wait. An injury to a starting quarterback in October can wreck a preseason futures bet, and you have no way to get out of it except to bet the other side at the new price. That is why we treat futures as an occasional bet on a strong view, not a regular part of a bankroll.
Where to use them
Our Super Bowl odds page follows the board through the season, and our NFL predictions make the weekly calls that the futures board reacts to. To compare books that post futures early, see our sportsbook reviews, and our betting guides cover the other bet types.