MLB American League Championship

We found American League championship odds from every major online sportsbook and display the best available number for each team, from the Houston Astros to the Oakland A’s.

AL Championship Series Futures

The American League Championship Series (ALCS) in Major League Baseball is one of the most notable events in the MLB season, sending the winner of the series off to the World Series. 

The ALCS takes place at the end of October and directly follows the ALDS and precedes the World Series. The 2022 American League Championship Series saw the Houston Astros defeat the New York Yankees via a four-game sweep. 

The Yankees hold the record for the most American League pennant wins in the ALCS as well as the most appearances. They have won 11 pennants and have appeared in the Championship Series on 18 occasions.

What are AL Championship Series Futures?

There are two major types of MLB futures when it comes to the American League Championship Series. Here is a look at both of them:

To Win the ALCS

Typically available to wager on throughout the entire season, betting on who will win the American League pennant is the most common for this market. 

The MLB odds for the AL Championship Series winner are always changing with unforeseen circumstances taking their toll on some teams, while propping up others. If you are interested in placing a futures bet on the ALCS, we recommend paying very close attention to the MLB news cycle as it pertains to American League teams. Injuries and major acquisitions are extremely common in MLB and can totally flip the landscape and outlook of the ALCS.

ALCS Exact Outcome

The market to bet on the ALCS exact outcome is a very popular one considering it can be viewed as one wager for the entire series. A wager of this nature is basically a two-leg parlay with long odds that has one leg being the winner of the series and the second leg being how many games the team wins the series in. 

An example of an exact outcome wager would be to select the Toronto Blue Jays to defeat the Cleveland Guardians in five games. This would require the Blue Jays to not only win the series and advance on to the World Series, but also to hold the Guardians to just one win in the series. These types of bets can be very difficult to win, but the long odds are undoubtedly rewarding.

This type of bet is not typically available at any major sportsbook until the matchup for the AL Championship Series is set.

FAQs

In the past, the AL pennant was simply awarded to the team that had put together the best record following the regular season. Things changed in 1994 however, when the AL was restructured into three divisions, the AL East, AL Central, and Al West. After the reorganization, the three division winners, plus a wildcard team, would qualify for the American League Division Series (ALDS) in order to decide who moves on to the American League Championship. The ALDS is played in a best-of-five format, as opposed to the ALCS, which is played in a best-of-seven format. The team with home field advantage hosts the first two games and the last two games of the series, for a 2-3-2 format. Simply put, the first team to win a total of four games automatically wins the series.

The process of wagering on the American League Championship Series futures market is a fairly straightforward one. Every major sportsbook does an excellent job of labeling their distinct sports, categories, and subcategories for each bet type. Because of this, finding your desired wager is quick and easy.

Those looking to place action on the ALCS should head to the ‘MLB’ section at their favorite sportsbook, click on ‘Futures’, and then look for ‘Series Betting’. The exact names of the categories above may vary by sportsbook, but the labels should be quite similar. With that being said, every reputable sportsbook is guaranteed to have some form of futures betting market for the American League Championship Series.

On the primary page for the ALCS futures market, all 15 teams in the league will be listed with individual odds to win the pennant. As we mentioned previously, all odds will shift for one reason or another so it is important to watch them.

With exact outcome wagers, they will only be available at the start of the series and in between games with dramatically shifted odds.

Another very cool aspect of the ALCS futures betting market is that the selections can be parlayed with other major sports league futures like the NBA, NFL, and college basketball. An example of a futures wager parlay would be to have the Seattle Mariners winning the ALCS while also having the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl and Gonzaga Bulldogs to win March Madness on the same bet slip.