Best soccer betting sites article
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Best MLS Soccer Betting Sites

3 May 2021

Soccer betting in the US is growing in tandem with the sport and now all major online sportsbooks offer a wide range of wagers for every major soccer event. We pick out our top 3.

Nils Edmondson

Nils Edmondson

Soccer Specialist

BettingScanner's resident soccer betting expert picks out his top 3 sports betting sites for soccer bets.

Best MLS Betting SitesBettingScanner's top 3

888sport The best MLS odds in NJ (now SI Sportsbook)

PointsBetThe best for point spreads

Bet365 The best MLS in-play betting

Best MLS betting sites

The MLS, our beloved soccer federation has become exponentially more popular since its creation in 1993. It's also garnered more interest from abroad thanks to some high-profile signings in recent years including David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gonzalo Higuain.

Online soccer betting has long been popular in Europe and Asia where it was legal from the early days of the internet. Of course, the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and the FIFA World Cup have traditionally been the most popular leagues to bet on. Until recently the MLS remained a betting option for the late-night European betting hipsters looking to find some value in a less-covered soccer match. That was until 2018 when the US Senate removed the federal ban on sports betting and states all over the country began to open their borders to online sportsbooks.

There are now over a dozen legal online sportsbooks in the US that offer MLS betting.

All these sites offer mobile betting and a variety of functions including in-play bets, parlays and teasers.

It is possible to sign-up for these sportsbooks anywhere in the US (as long as they are licensed) but you can only place a wager if you are in a state where they are active. So, for example, New Jersey hosts the largest number of online soccer betting sites in the country. In other states, like Oregon, you may only have one sportsbook and in many other states such as California, online sports betting is not yet legal.

So, as you can see above we have selected our top 3 soccer betting sites. We have picked these particular sportsbooks after considering a number of factors. They include:

  1. Trustworthiness We consider whether they are fully licensed if they have a good track record with their customers and provide reliable customer service.
  2. Odds This is a crucial factor, as ultimately it’s the value of their odds that will decide whether you make any money or not. For the purpose of this article, we did focus on soccer odds, however, we did take into account the odds each sportsbook provided for other sports.
  3. Payment options It can be difficult to deposit funds into your sportsbook account using your Visa or Mastercard. That is why it is essential that your sportsbook offers a variety of safe payment options such as PayPal or Skrill.
  4. Usability We look at how enjoyable and easy to use each product is.
What makes a soccer betting site legal?
Nils Edmondson

Nils Edmondson

A legal sports betting site must be licensed in at least one US state for it to be considered legit. Offshore sportsbooks are not legal and are not liable; they should therefore be avoided. At BettingScanner we never promote or review an offshore sportsbook.

To obtain a license an online sportsbook must have received approval from a state’s gaming commission, have paid the licensing fee and the sportsbook tax imposed by the state. It is common for states to require an online sportsbook to partner with an existing physical casino.

888sport

888sport is a European sportsbook that is now live in the states of Nevada and New Jersey. It’s in the latter that the betting site has really made its mark with an excellent product loved and trusted by thousands of customers.

When it comes to soccer betting the sportsbook does enjoy a competitive advantage, as it has been active in Europe and Asia for many years; two geographical markets that are soccer-mad.

Firstly, 888sport is trustworthy. It may not be the best-known brand in the US, but globally it’s a sports betting heavyweight. It has relationships with some of the largest and most successful sports teams in the world as well as all the major payment platforms operating in the sports betting industry. It is fully licensed in New Jersey and Nevada. This means that if you are based in New York you can also sign-up to 888sport at home, and then take a short ride over to NJ to place a wager.

888sport also offer the best odds in New Jersey when it comes to soccer events. Of course, this is on average, you will often find better odds for individual bets at another sportsbook, however, it is 888sport that consistently offers the best odds. We find that their MLS odds are often the best in the country.

When it comes to payment options 888sport is not the very best, but it still offers enough options to warrant its place in the top 3. It does offer PayPal as a payment option, which is by far the most popular payment platform amongst sports bettors. 888sport does not offer Skrill as a deposit or withdrawal option.

Finally, when it comes to usability, we have no complaints. Their mobile product is one of the best on the market. A beginner can easily find their way around the app. They also offer an excellent in-play function - only topped by Bet365 - which is free from glitches.

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PointsBet

The Aussie sportsbook has been the surprise package of the sports betting industry. The company came to the US in 2019 as a relative unknown but it has since cemented itself as one of the most popular sports betting sites in the country.

The key to its success is its niche offering - points betting. This form of betting differs from a standard fixed-odds bet in that it doesn’t offer a win/lose option but rather a sliding scale where you are either rewarded or docked points according to how right or wrong your bet was. This type of betting also makes it less about whether a team will win or lose but rather by how much they will win or lose. This can be helpful when there is a clear favorite as it can add value to your bet and also make it more interesting.

An example of Points Betting
Nils Edmondson

Nils Edmondson

Here is a fictitious example from the MLS of how a points bet could play out:

It’s LAFC vs. Inter Miami on Saturday. Carlos Vela and Gonzalo Higuain have been off the pace in recent weeks and both teams defences have been doing their job well. There are also a couple of injuries in both teams to key playmakers.

With all this considered you think it will be low scoring game. So, you place $10 on under 4 goals scored.

Here are three potential outcomes:

The result is 1-0 to LAFC. You, therefore, have a 3 point win. 3x$10 = $30

The result is 2-1 to LAFC. You, therefore, have a 1 point win. 1x$10 = $10

The result is 1-4 to Inter Miami. You, therefore, have a 1 point loss. 1x$10 = - $10

This type of sports betting is really revolutionizing the industry and is one of the reasons why the sportsbook has picked up so many US customers and is now live in six states with more products on the way.

It is not just a novelty sportsbook. PointsBet also offers world-class standard betting with in-play, fixed odds and more.

The betting site has also built its brand on trust with 24/7 customer service and a reliable mobile app which is free from glitches.

In terms of odds, the sportsbook offers excellent value fixed odds and points betting for all major soccer events.

PointsBet’s mobile app is both reliable and easy to use. It is available for both Android and iOS.

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Bet365

The British sportsbook began its life around twenty years ago in a workers cabin in the north of England. It is now the single biggest betting brand in the world and that is a testament to its excellent product.

Bet365 can thank soccer and horse racing for their success in both the European markets. The sportsbook offers some of the best odds for these sports, on both continents. However, it is also its winning of a combination of live streaming events along with a superior in-play function that has really cemented the sports betting site as top dog.

When it comes to its NJ and CO mobile apps it comes as no surprise that Bet365 has one of the best selection of MLS bets.

We would say 888sport has slightly better odds, and PointsBet is better at points betting (as well as being in more states) but when it comes to MLS in-play bets; Bet365 wins it hands down.

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