Brewers and Rays bring sportsbook liability into World Series after long preseason odds
Early bets on both teams have left some sportsbooks exposed as Milwaukee and Tampa Bay prepare for a World Series between clubs seeking their first title.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays enter the 2026 World Series with some sportsbooks facing losses on bets placed when both teams were long shots, ESPN reported on October 20. Caesars Sportsbook says a Brewers title would cost its World Series futures book, while Hard Rock Bet describes Tampa Bay as a major liability. The series brings together two clubs seeking their first championship.
Milwaukee began the season at 35-1 to win the title and Tampa Bay at 80-1, according to DraftKings lines cited by ESPN. Those early prices offered much larger potential payouts than bets placed after the teams reached the World Series. ESPN said the Brewers opened with the 14th-best championship odds and the Rays with the 22nd-best.
How the Brewers and Rays affect sportsbooks
Eric Biggio, Caesars Sportsbook’s head of baseball, told ESPN by email that the Brewers remained an overall loss for its World Series futures book. Caesars had identified Milwaukee as a liability before the postseason following late-season bets on the team. Biggio said the Brewers nevertheless helped Caesars on individual playoff games against the Dodgers and by eliminating the Padres, another futures liability for the book.
BetMGM also considers a Milwaukee championship a loss for its futures book, ESPN reported, but said a Tampa Bay title would be a win. Hard Rock Bet faces a different balance: its spokesperson, Jon Chapper, told ESPN by email that early Rays tickets remain a major exposure, even after a late surge of money on Milwaukee.
Hard Rock Bet said 21.2% of its straight World Series tickets placed by bettors in Florida backed the Rays, compared with 7.7% in the other states where it operates. It also said Brewers backers were wagering more than twice the average Rays stake. Those figures describe Hard Rock’s bets, not the market as a whole; the operators did not give ESPN dollar amounts for their potential losses.
World Series odds and the matchup
DraftKings Network listed Milwaukee as the opening series favorite at -155, with Tampa Bay at +135. Its opening Game 1 moneyline was Brewers -160 and Rays +132. ESPN later cited series prices of Milwaukee -160 and Tampa Bay +140; the different figures are snapshots of betting markets, not a measure of either sportsbook’s exposure.
Milwaukee reached the series after sweeping the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, DraftKings Network reported. Biggio told ESPN that eliminating the Dodgers and Yankees helped sportsbooks on individual games, although he expected a Brewers–Rays matchup to draw less betting volume than one involving those larger draws. That concerns how much customers wager, separately from what a book might owe on championship bets.
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Sources and context
- Brewers, Rays carry sportsbook liability into World SeriesESPN
- Opening Odds for Rays vs. Brewers in 2026 World SeriesDraftKings Network
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.