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OAKLAND PARK, Fla (Gambling911.com) - If early betting action is any indication, this year's Little League World Series (LLWS) is going to set records that are tough to wrap one's head around.
Note: This year's Little League World Series Will Be Played From Wednesday August 19 to Sunday August 30
BetOnline announced for the first time ever they will be offering individual player props on this year's Little League World Series.
The number of folks betting on the LLWS far outnumbers those who are outraged. We'll get to the latter momentarily.
How popular is LLWS betting you ask?
BetOnline Brand Manager Dave Mason revealed that "English Premier League futures went up in late May. LLWS futures went live yesterday (Monday)... Chelsea has taken the most tickets to win EPL. California has the most bets to win USA bracket... There are more bets on California than Chelsea."
That fact is staggering.
For those who don't know, a typical soccer match featuring Chelsea will see millions bet from across the globe. A recent club friendly (which is the equivalent of an NFL preseason game) featuring Chelsea saw more than $1 million traded at one prediction market.
Search impressions for specific soccer match coverage on Gambling911.com over the past week appear below. This is the number of people conducting searches for each of these soccer matches (not necessarily with the intention to place a bet). For Americans who still think soccer is not a popular sport, we point you to the 42,906 search queries for the Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami game. A meaningful match featuring Chelsea will typically (and conservatively) see three times this number.
Haters will be haters and there are a few hating on Mason via his Twitter page.
"Insanely unethical even for a s****** book like betonline. Truly shameful."
"12 year olds are going to be getting threatened online and accused of selling games :)"
"How about don't offer betting for games involving 12 year olds? I hope you rot in hell for promoting this shit."
So what do the Little League World Series organizers think of all of this?
Gambling911.com reached out to them.
They issued the following statement to Gambling911.com:
"Little League International stands by its statement first issued last year that there is no place for betting on Little League games and players or any youth sports competition. Little League is a trusted place where children are learning the fundamentals of the games and all the important life lessons that come with having fun, celebrating teamwork, and playing with integrity, and no one should be exploiting the success and failures of children playing the game they love for their own personal gain."
And as if the Chelsea betting comparison could not be topped, Mason stunned us once again Tuesday evening with this revelation:
"There is more action on South Korea -2500 tomorrow vs Canada in their LLWS matchup than the Mets +105 tonight. Also more action on SK than Marlins (+189)."
Both those games were seeing greater than $2 million in betting volume each at Kalshi, and it's not a stretch to believe BetOnline had even more action considering they've been around since 1999 and are listed among the top ten biggest sportsbooks in the world.
Mind you, South Korea is seeing even more action despite being a massive -2500 favorite. Let that sink in for a moment.
Dave Mason understands he's going to be the most hated man in sports betting these next two weeks by the 20 or so people who aren't betting on this year's Little League World Series.
For every one of those haters, there are a few hundred thousand placing bets on Joto Little League, Boerne Little League and Paseo Verde Little League.
"We're not here to say whether gambling on 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds is right or wrong, that's up for you to decide (and possibly write about), we're just delivering the information," BetOnline tells Gambling911.com.
To protect tournament integrity, BetOnline strictly limits maximum wager sizes.
Little League World Series Betting Markets
All betting is courtesy of BetOnline
Total Strikeouts by Kinley Rasmus in First Start
Over/Under 6.5
Total Strikeouts by Cooper Thissen in First Start
Over/Under 10.5
Total Strikeouts by Dominik Mombeleur in First Start
Over/Under 11.5
Total Strikeouts by Mason Rincon in First Start
Over/Under 7.5
Who will hit the most home runs during tournament?
Mason Rincon +125
Cooper Thissen +210
Dominik Mombeleur +225
Kinley Rasmus +650
U.S. Bracket Champion
California 1/1
Texas 6/1
New Jersey 6/1
Alabama 8/1
Iowa 12/1
Massachusetts 12/1
Ohio 12/1
Washington 12/1
Nevada 14/1
Pennsylvania 18/1
International Bracket Champion
South Korea 1/2
Dominican Republic 4/1
Japan
Mexico 8/1
Nicaragua 10/1
Curacao 16/1
Panama 25/1
Canada 33/1
Czechia
Australia
Wednesday, August 19
1pm ET
Nicaragua -145
Dominican Republic +115
3pm ET
Alabama -500
Washington +340
5pm ET
Canada +900
South Korea -2500
7pm ET
New Jersey -130
Massachusetts +100
Thursday, August 20
12pm ET
Australia +500
Mexico -850
2pm ET
Ohio -130
Nevada +100
4pm ET
Curacao +340
Japan -500
6pm ET
California -270
Iowa +200
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
