Soccer is the world’s most popular sport - at least it is outside of the US. It’s also the planet’s favorite sport to bet on. Soccer remains an emerging market in America but more and more US bettors are getting in on the action thanks to the growing popularity of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the exploits of the nation’s international team, the USMT.
The United States is poised to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico, in a contest that will bring the sport's biggest stars into the stadiums of the country. That promises to raise the profile of soccer in the US still higher, but there are always masses of matches in the ‘beautiful game’ to bet on right now at New York’s best sportsbooks. As well as the MLS, the most popular soccer competitions to bet on include the English Premier League (EPL), the UEFA Champions League, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.
Betting on soccer is often a bit different to how Americans are used to placing wagers on our favorite sports - football, baseball, basketball and hockey. If you’re new to betting on soccer or are refining your strategy for wagering on the sport, read on.
Your first step is to pick the best sportsbook for soccer betting. You might be an occasional soccer fan who only watches and wagers on the four-yearly festival that is the FIFA World Cup, or be a bettor who seeks to identify value in some of the lesser leagues that are featured at the top betting sites. Either way, choose the book that best suits how you’ll be betting.
As the sportsbook with the one of the biggest market shares in the country, you’d expect FanDuel to have a big soccer presence. And the big blue beast delivers with a plethora of soccer betting options.
Of course, FanDuel offers markets in the MLS, Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, and Serie A but you’ll also find the German Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie, Scottish Premier League, Turkish Süper Lig and France’s Ligue 1.
There likely isn’t a soccer competition in the world that FanDuel doesn't offer. They cover all four professional leagues in England as well as lower divisions in the likes of Spain, Italy, Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands.
Fancy a random, fun bet on football in Northern Ireland, Gibraltar or Cyprus? Yes, you’ll find them at FanDuel. Cup competition markets are also brought to you at FanDuel alongside friendly games from across the world. Soccer at FanDuel truly is massive and unsurpassed, and is packaged in one of the best sports betting apps in New York.
Caesars isn’t far behind FanDuel for the breadth of soccer competitions it has on offer. The sportsbook that’s rooted in the Vegas palace excels at the sheer volume of bet types you can choose from. All of the traditional markets that US bettors are familiar with - moneylines, spreads and totals - are featured prominently in the Emperor's book for soccer games plus plenty more.
Caesars also has lots of soccer props such as team totals and both teams to score with a whole host more. You can bet on whether a team will overturn a deficit to win a match or if they’ll be winning after 15 or 30 minutes alongside the number of corners won.
Player prop markets are also plentiful and include goalscorers, yellow and red cards, and hattrick options. Caesars is also renowned for its unique odds boosts and delivering super slick betting platforms.
DraftKings is another market leader and a sportsbook that has extensive soccer markets and great betting apps. But it also excels at live betting. It can seem as though there’s a live soccer wagering market on the go at DraftKings at every time of day and all week long.
We had a look on a random day in December 2023 at noon. What we found was a Romanian, Turkish and two Cypriot games offered with live betting. There weren’t just win/lose markets either. There were spreads, totals and props. Who knows whether anyone from the US was actually gambling on those matches as they played out, but it just shows how big live betting is at DraftKings.
Like its competitors, BetMGM has a ton of soccer markets. But if you’re watching a big match, what you’ll notice is the astonishing array of individual wagers from the same game that can be combined into a single parlay.
BetMGM was one of the later sportsbooks to offer single-game parlays (or ‘one game parlay’ as it calls them). Maybe that delay enabled the golden lion-branded book to perfect its offering. Almost any leg (that doesn’t contradict any of the others you add) can be built into a one-game parlay. It means you can squeeze extra value out of your bets and add in an extra dose of fun when it suits you.
Constructing a one-game parlay is also super easy. Just click on all the individual wagers you desire and switch between singles and one game parlay in your bet slip.
BetMGM also has sleek, attractive betting apps and a fine-looking desktop site. Oh, and for any US-based folk from the UK, BetMGM is one of the only betting sites that advertise odds in fractional formats. It might just make it easier for ‘football’ fans who’ve emigrated from Great Britain to read soccer odds in a format they’re likely more familiar with.
For soccer betting in New York, ESPN BET excels by leveraging its extensive coverage of international and domestic soccer leagues. Bettors can access expert analysis, match previews, and live updates on major tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, and FIFA World Cup alongside MLS.
The platform’s integration with ESPN’s soccer content provides unique insights, making it ideal for fans who want to stay ahead with informed bets based on real-time commentary, and take advantage of exclusive promotions for key soccer events.
BetRivers is far from the biggest of sportsbooks, but that can work in the bettor’s favor. With a slimmed-down offering, BetRivers simply can’t touch its biggest rivals for market coverage and depth.
However, you’ll often find that to entice line shoppers that BetRivers has upped pricing on the top games. It simply has to so it can attract bettors. Just to take an example of how this plays out - when the USA took on the Netherlands at World Cup 2022, the USMT was priced at +175 to advance at DraftKings but +185 at BetRivers.
Now, if you were to bet $100 on the USA to proceed (they didn’t) you’d have achieved $10 more at BetRivers than at DraftKings. Hardly a fortune, but who wouldn’t have liked an extra 10 bucks?
Fanatics and its relationship with soccer is an intriguing one for the company overall, beyond just betting. The apparel and merchandise operations of Fanatics have been busy recently, entering into more and more partnerships with European and South American clubs and leagues. It means soccer should be a strength for the Fanatics sportsbook and it really is.
What stands out in the Fanatics soccer provision is how it has built on the legacy of PointsBet. Fanatics’ predecessor had developed its soccer lightning bets markets to be positioned ahead of many others. Borrowing much from more mature sports betting markets in Europe, Australia and elsewhere in the world, these types of bets are quickfire markets that appear in an instant on what will happen in the next passage of play or a few minutes in a game. They’re great at Fanatics.
Bally Bet was the last of New York’s nine legal sportsbooks to market - and it shows, in some good ways and the occasional not-so-good. However, what you’ll notice is that Bally Bet runs some good promos that land frequently.
One of the best - when it comes to soccer - is the assorted bet insurance offers that BallyBet drops regularly. For example, hardly any soccer bettor wagers on a game ending in a tie. As US sports fans, ties are something of an alien concept as it is.
However, they do happen often in soccer, in as many as 40% of games in many leagues. Bally Bet regularly offers ‘tie insurance’ where if a game does finish even, you’ll get your stake back. That’s a great feature for most soccer bettors who avoid backing the tie.
Like a few sportsbooks, Resorts World Bet offers customers the chance to create a bespoke wager and request odds from the book for it. What you’ll tend to find at Resorts World Bet is that your requested wager and the associated price will be with you quickly.
The ‘Name a Bet’ feature is easy to access from the main menu and as one of the smaller sportsbooks, Resorts World Bet’s oddsmakers are unlikely to be overloaded with requests so a fast response is likely. Give it a try and be creative, though outlandish asks are perhaps unlikely to be provided with odds.
Before downloading a betting app, signing up and placing bets on soccer, take a little time to consider which will be best for you. Consider the following factors to identify which is the best sports NY betting site for betting on soccer:
It's of paramount importance to ensure that any betting operator you use is legal and licensed for operating in the State of New York. There are some offshore betting sites still in operation but avoid them as you’ll have no assurance that they’re trading in line with Gambling Commission regulations designed to protect customers.
You might be tempted to think that betting apps from say Europe will offer an enhanced experience given that soccer is more popular elsewhere in the world than in the US. Chances are though, they simply won’t work as most will use geolocation technology to track your location. Plus, using a betting site that isn’t licensed for customers in your state is simply illegal. All of the best sportsbooks offer extensive soccer market coverage anyway that will rival those from further afield.
You can access most betting sites to take an initial look before committing to signing up. Have a browse and see if the user interface is easy to navigate and that it appeals to you. Check out a selection of reviews - both from industry experts and customers. This will give you a good idea of what to expect.
Not all odds at sportsbooks are created equally. Value is a key concept when it comes to the potential for profit from making bets. Some sportsbooks are especially ‘sharp’ when it comes to setting odds for soccer. A handful of betting sites in New York now see soccer as a key sports offering while some still treat it as something of a niche market. That also means that some sports betting operators are keen to attract new customers and retain existing ones with promos and rewards relevant to soccer betting. Taking a look at what’s on offer will boost your bankroll.
NY Sportsbook | New Customer Soccer Bonus |
Caesars | Up to $1,250 in bonus credit to use on soccer bets when you place a wager (minimum $10). |
FanDuel | Bet $5, get $150 in Bonus Bets |
DraftKings | Bonus worth up to 20% of your first deposit to a maximum of $1,000. |
BetRivers | Up to $100 in bonus bets matched to the value of your first wager if it loses. |
The principles of betting on soccer vary little from those of any other sport. Once you’ve chosen the best soccer sportsbook and signed up, you’re ready to dive in.
However, be aware that some of the bet types and terminology can be different to what we might be familiar with as US sports fans. Take a little time to get comfortable with how to bet on soccer before placing your first wager.
The three main bet types that are routinely offered on most sports also apply to soccer. That is, the moneyline, points spread and over/under. Almost all of the best NY sportsbooks also offer an extensive selection of other kinds of soccer bets, particularly relevant to the nature and nuances of the sport.
Also known as the ‘goal line’ and sometimes the ‘game line’, soccer point spread bets operate in the same way as they do for other sports. Be aware though that the frequency of ties in each game adds an extra dimension.
Also, matches tend to be low-scoring meaning each goal or point added to or subtracted from the spread can make a big difference. In a soccer points spread bet, you pick the favorite minus a set number of goals, or the underdog who will be given a theoretical head start in how many they’ll score.
For example, when the USA played England in the group stage of World Cup 2022, England were rated as the -1.5 favorite. That means the oddsmakers at sportsbooks predicted that they would win by two clear goals. Ultimately, the game finished 0-0 meaning anyone who picked England on the goal line lost their bet. However, those backing the USMT at +1.5 still would have won their wager.
In soccer, the moneyline is generally offered as a ‘three-way’. That means you can choose which of the two teams will win or opt for the draw/tie. The addition of a bet on the outcome being a draw/tie can lower the moneyline odds slightly.
For example, when New York City FC played Philadelphia Union in the 2022 MLS Conference Finals, they were the underdogs at odds of +265 with the tie just a tad less generous at +260. That meant Union were favorites but only at a modest -106.
Although it’s often a low-scoring sport, soccer matches are still relatively fast-paced. Games ebb and flow between offense and defense and there are multiple passages of play during every 90 minutes of regulation play.
Set pieces such as free kicks and corners are common as are stoppages. It all makes soccer an ideal sport for live betting with so many permutations that can be bet on. When a sportsbook is offering in-play markets, you’ll find regularly updated odds for the final outcome plus spreads and totals.
There’ll also be lots of live prop markets such as the next goalscorer, the number of shots taken, amount of corners, and how many yellow cards there will be.
Soccer parlay betting is incredibly popular. It’s a mainstay of big game weekends in Europe but also now in the US. You can opt to add wagers from different fixtures to a parlay or build a combination of legs from the same game.
The more picks you add in, the greater the odds will be but so too the risk as if one leg fails, usually the whole bet will lose.
The draw no bet option is essentially a moneyline wager but instead of being a ‘three-way’ it becomes a ‘two-way’. This type of bet removes the draw/tie as an option and if a game does end this way, the wager will become void with stakes returned.
You’re only betting on which team will win. With the draw/tie permutation removed, the odds on each side being victorious will be lower than in a ‘three-way’ moneyline.
Another popular option for soccer bettors, a double chance bet enables you to cover two scenarios in a single wager. You can pick one side to win plus the draw/tie or opt to bet on either side to be victorious.
The addition of an extra scenario and resultant reduced risk means that the odds for a double chance will be adjusted accordingly.
Formed in 1993, the MLS is the highest-level soccer league in North America. 23 teams from the USA and three from Canada play in the regular season which usually starts in late February or March.
The side with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield. Attention then switches to the postseason playoffs from which two of 14 teams ultimately compete for the MLS Cup to determine the overall champion. Unlike most top soccer leagues in the rest of the world, there is no promotion or relegation in the MLS.
The English Premier League (EPL) is the richest on the planet. As a result, it is home to some of the world’s best teams and players. The EPL traditionally features a ‘big six’ who are the league’s most successful teams. They’re almost always the clubs who battle for the title and for qualification to European competitions - the Champions League and Europa League.
Manchester City has dominated the EPL in recent seasons, with recent signing Erling Haaland scoring goals for fun. The battle to avoid relegation to England’s second tier - the Championship - can be just as intense, and as intriguing to bet on.
The highest level of football in Italy, Serie A is the league in which you’ll find giant clubs such as AC Milan and Juventus. It is the latter who has been the dominant force with nine titles in a row between 2011 and 2020.
Italian football fans are a passionate bunch, which only adds to the excitement of watching every game. Ciro Immobile of Lazio has been the top scorer in Serie A in three of the last six seasons and may well be near the summit of the goal charts when the current campaign concludes in 2023.
The top league in Germany, the Bundesliga has been dominated by Bayern Munich in recent years with 10 consecutive titles.
Since seven-time Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski departed Bayern for Barcelona in 2022, the goal charts have become much more wide-open. RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund are Bayern’s nearest rivals in the hunt for honors.
For what seemed forever, Spain’s La Liga was dominated by two players who can both make a claim to be the ‘greatest of all time’ - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both have since departed Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively - La Liga’s biggest clubs - for pastures new.
Those two teams continue to dominate the Spanish top division though. The aforementioned Robert Lewandowski, now of Barca, looks like a solid bet to be La Liga’s highest scorer for season 2022-23.
Who will be champions in every league in the world is the biggest ‘futures’ bet of the season, and odds can be healthy early in each campaign.
For example, had you bet on New York City FC to be MLS champions in 2021 during the preseason you would have had them at odds of around +2,200.
As you’d expect, this type of bet requires you to identify who will be winning a game at half-time and also at full-time. The odds will be higher in this type of bet than a straight-up moneyline wager on the winner at the end of the game.
As an example, when New York Red Bulls were big favorites (-225) against Vancouver Whitecaps a few seasons back, you could get better odds of +120 for them to be winning at half-time and at full-time.
As it says, a bet on the next team to score will be offered when a game is available on the live betting markets. The odds will reflect both which side is the favorite and the team which is playing the best and looks like the bigger attacking threat.
Odds will drop as the game progresses as there will be fewer minutes remaining, and therefore a lower chance of a goal.
You can find generous odds on betting on the correct score in a soccer game. That’s because it’s difficult to predict a final score completely accurately. The sportsbooks will still offer odds at the lower end for the score they think is most likely with a sliding scale for the less probable.
For example, ahead of massive underdogs Morocco playing France at World Cup 2022, for France to win 1-0, the odds were around +450. For 2-0, the odds dropped to +525 and so on. The result of Morocco winning 1-0 was considered to be a +1,300 longshot.
Reading soccer lines and odds in the standard American format is all about sorting the positive numbers from the negative ones. American odds are based on wagers of $100. So, odds of +150 mean you would be paid out $150 on a $100 bet. Conversely, negative odds of -150 indicate that you’d need to wager $150 to earn $100.
This principle applies to all soccer bet types. Here’s a simple example from when New York City FC played the NY Red Bulls in July 2022:
Spread: Red Bulls -0.5
Moneyline: Red Bulls +135, NYCFC +195, Draw/tie +250
From the above, we can see that Red Bulls were favorites and the sportsbooks considered they would win by at least a clear goal. Note that the spread is 0.5. Often spreads are set with a half-decimal point to avoid the possibility of an exact result that would conclude bets as a push.
Your $100 wager would return less if you backed a Red Bulls win than a New York City FC victory - again indicating that NYRB were favorites. In the end, the sportsbooks were wrong. NYCFC won the game 1-0. Any wagers on the outcomes predicted as most likely by the sports betting sites would have lost.
The MLS season runs from spring through to fall. The current champions are Los Angeles FC who captured their first MLS Cup in 2022, beating Philadelphia Union.
LAFC share a fierce cross-town rivalry with LA Galaxy, the most successful team in MLS history with five championships. The Galaxy stands just ahead of DC United, with the capital team stuck on four titles.
Last season’s pair of finalists are expected to show strongly once more in 2023 with LA Galaxy and New York City FC tipped to push them hard. NYFC are joined by New York Red Bulls as the two MLS teams to represent the state. The two sides meet in the so-called Hudson River Derby which was first played in 2015. NYRB has a slight edge in historical derby results with 10 wins to NYFC’s eight.
New York Red Bulls are the older of the two MLS teams based in the New York metropolitan area having been founded in 1994. The New Jersey club was bought by the energy drink giants whose name they adopted in 2006.
The Red Bulls have never been champions of the MLS, but they have been a regular in the playoffs. Brazilian Carlos Coronel, based on recent form, looks to be an outstanding signing in goal.
Nicknamed the Pigeons, New York City FC play in the MLS Eastern Conference. Formed in 2013, NYFC will celebrate a decade in the MLS come May 2023.
New York City FC has shown strongly in recent seasons and were champions in 2021. Primarily playing their home games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (though that’s set to change), NYCFC can stake a claim to represent New York City as the only MLS team to be based in the five boroughs of the Big Apple.
The Pigeons have been superb in most areas of the pitch of late and are fancied to do well again in 2023. Star forward Taty Castellanos has gone on loan to Girona in Italy’s Serie A, so NYFC’s chances of success will hinge on just how good the remaining roster is.
Soccer fans are spoilt for choice. Unlike the four major sports in the US, you can bet on soccer all year long. There’s almost always a league underway, with matches played throughout the calendar year.
That can present an abundance of wagering opportunities, but also comes with a word of caution - hold back on placing bets on leagues and cup competitions you’re not familiar with, especially if there’s little information available for them.
Tips for soccer betting include finding a bet type to concentrate your efforts on, be it moneylines or spreads etc. Do your homework too. Soccer odds are generally posted a few days before matches so you can check out recent form and team news to make educated picks.
As with other sports, check out the latest sports betting news to see if there’s anything major to be aware of ahead of the game, and if two teams do look closely matched, don’t forget the possibility of a draw/tie.
Also home to the New York Yankees baseball team, NYCFC has played at Yankee Stadium for eight seasons. Only ever intended to be a temporary measure, New York City FC recently announced plans to move to a new soccer-specific stadium in 2027, located in Queens.
Still, NYCFC fans have grown to love the unique atmosphere generated at the Bronx ballpark though with supporters groups congregating on the bleachers behind the goal.
Located in Harrison, New Jersey, the 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena is a state-of-the-art facility built specifically for soccer.
The Red Bull Arena is akin to European soccer stadiums and delivers an authentic experience, replicating how the game is watched in the rest of the world.
DraftKings Sportsbook at Del Lago Casino Resort
1133 New York 414, Waterloo, NY 13165, United State
+1 315-946-1777
Sportsbook 360 at Resorts World Catskills
888 Resorts World Drive, Monticello, NY 12701
+1 833-586-9358
Rivers Sportsbook at Rivers Casino & Resort
1 Rush St, Schenectady, NY 12305
+1 518-579-8800
FanDuel Sportsbook at Tioga Downs Casino
2384 W River Rd, Nichols, NY 13812, United States
+1 607-414-1129
Lounge With Caesars at Point Place Casino
450 452, NY-31, Bridgeport, NY 13030
315-366-9610
Lounge With Caesars at Turning Stone Resort & Casino
5218 Patrick Rd, Verona, NY 13478
800-771-7711
Lounge With Caesars at Yellow Brick Road Casino
800 W Genesee St, Chittenango, NY 13037
315-366-9400
Sticks Sports Book at Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort
873 NY-37, Hogansburg, NY 13655
518-358-2222
Sports Lounge at Seneca Allegany Casino
777 Seneca Allegany Blvd, Salamanca, NY 14779
888-913-3377
Sports Lounge at Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino
1 Fulton St, Buffalo, NY 14204
877-873-6322
Sports Lounge at Seneca Niagara Casino
310 4th St, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
877-873-6322
Taking in a soccer game in person is always a memorable experience in New York but if you can’t get to a stadium then enjoying the action at one of the many sports bars in the area is the next best thing. Consider these options:
The Football Factory at Legends
6 W 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001
+1 212-967-7792
Located in the heart of Manhattan (6 W 33rd St), this venue prides itself on being ‘the home of football in NYC’. With 20 big screens showing over 100 soccer games a week, the Football Factory plays host to supporters groups from all over the world who find themselves based in New York.
Smithfield Hall
138 W 25th Street, New York, NY 10001
+1 212-929-9677
Positioned a few blocks from Madison Square Garden, Smithfield Hall is a favorite hangout for soccer fans with 11 big TVs and the biggest games projected onto a giant screen. A long bar seats plenty and you can opt for solid sport-watching grub from the menu. Smithfield Hall attracts soccer supporters cheering on their team from around the world.
The Soccer Republic at McHale's
251 W 51st Street, New York, NY 10019
+1 212-957-5138
The name is the giveaway for this sports bar at 251 W 51st Street. Welcoming supporters of a vast array of teams, McHale’s is an old Irish venue occupying two floors with lots of TVs showing games from all the top leagues.
To bet on soccer legally, you’ll need to be aged 21 or over and open an account with a licensed sportsbook. Once you’re signed up and have made a deposit, simply navigate to the soccer menu at your chosen sports betting site, pick your wagers by clicking on them, add your selections to the bet slip and click the confirm button.
Yes. Betting on soccer is legal in New York. However, no gambling on in-state college teams is permitted whether they’re playing at home or away.
'PK' is short for ‘pick ‘em’. This is a betting market in which the book considers there’s no particular favorite. As a result, you might see the points spread set at +/-0 or the moneyline at equal odds, say -110 for each team. It’s essentially a toss-up as to who will win as far as the oddsmakers are concerned.
‘GG’ means a bet on both teams to score (aka BTTS) in a soccer game. On the flip side, you might hear of wagers on one team to score and the other to get nil, or on neither side to get a goal as ‘NG’.
A 3/4 bet can mean different things to different people and how it relates to different sports. Typically in soccer though a 3/4 bet refers to a betting system whereby three x four pick parlays are placed. The combination in this system results in an outcome where three of the four must be correct to achieve some winnings.
There are always three possible outcomes in a soccer game - either side wins or the game ends in a draw (a tie). In a double chance bet, we’re wagering on two of the potential outcomes - Team A wins or a draw/tie or Team B wins or a draw/tie. In a double chance bet, the likelihood of a hit will therefore be 66.6% in pure terms rather than 33.3% on a single outcome. As a result, the risk is lower but so too are the odds.
A ‘draw no bet’ (or ‘tie no bet’) wager in soccer betting is exactly as it sounds. You bet on a team to win but if the game ends in a draw/tie then the wager becomes void and your stake is refunded.
Handicap betting in soccer means that the sportsbook gives the underdog a virtual goals advantage resulting in the odds on either side becoming more even. The outcome of a handicap bet is all about the margin of victory just like a points spread wager.
Soccer bets are usually settled at the end of 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time added on unless stated otherwise.
