The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2025 MLB regular season as the largest title favorites in over two decades, and they’ll head into the 2025 World Series as the overwhelming favorites to win their second straight championship.
Los Angeles opened as the -210 favorite to win the World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays, who opened at +175, according to ESPN BET odds. The series spread opened at Dodgers -1.5 (-115) to the Jays’ +1.5 (-105).
The Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of their American League Championship Series on Monday, sending Toronto to its first World Series since 1993.
If the Dodgers were to capture another Commissioner’s Trophy, they’ll do so as wire-to-wire favorites for the second consecutive season, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat since the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000, according to data from SportsOddsHistory.com.
Despite their short odds all season — even as they struggled at times, ultimately obtaining the National League’s third seed — the Dodgers were well supported by the betting public. ESPN BET reports nearly a third of all of its World Series tickets, including settled bets, backing LA; among playoff teams, the Dodgers have garnered 44.4% of the handle since the beginning of the postseason.
BetMGM also had significant liability on a Los Angeles title, with senior trader Halvor Egeland saying before the championship series that the Dodgers winning it all “would make many bettors happy” and “the sportsbook will be cheering for whichever team comes out of the American League with the Blue Jays being the best outcome.”
Toronto was initially viewed as a relative World Series long shot across the sportsbook marketplace, entering the season with consensus +6000 odds. It attracted a bit of attention from bettors after a late-season surge that ended with the Blue Jays as the AL’s top seed, but they still ended up with only 7.7% of the wagers overall at ESPN BET.
Game 1 of the World Series is Friday at Rogers Centre. The home Blue Jays opened at +125 on the money line, with the Dodgers taking road favorite status at -150.
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