After an upset-filled wild card round, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees open their postseasons Saturday as the top betting favorites to win the World Series.
Some sportsbooks have the Dodgers listed as World Series favorites; others have the Yankees. Both are favorites in their divisional round series. The Dodgers are around -135 favorites over the San Diego Padres , and the Yankees are -210 favorites over the Kansas City Royals .
Bookmakers, however, are more concerned about the upstart Detroit Tigers , who, in a month, have gone from long shots to liability for sportsbooks. The Tigers, who could be found at 500-1 to win the World Series in early September, are now around 10-1 and have been attracting increased interest from bettors – especially in Michigan.
DraftKings and BetMGM both said the Tigers have attracted greater than 50% of all World Series bets placed with their sportsbooks in Michigan since Sept. 1. That’s upwards of 10 times more than any other team left in the playoffs. Caesars Sportsbook took a $200 bet on the Tigers to win the World Series at 500-1 from a Michigan customer in late August, according to the company’s lead baseball trader Eric Biggio.