🏅 Do all US sportsbooks have MVP bets?

Not necessarily. From experience, most popular US sportsbooks do have futures bets on various league MVP’s, but it’s not guaranteed.

📝 How to bet on the league MVP?

You first need to have a valid account with the sportsbook. Once you’ve created that, you will find the MVP bet in the futures or special bets section of the sport you wish to bet on. It’s then a case of picking your MVP candidate, entering your bet amount, and finalizing your selection.

📊 What’s the best strategy for betting on the MVP?

Research and analyzing current league trends are key to making a successful MVP selection. Most of the leagues will have MVP rankings tables that you can look at which will give you insight.

MVP betting explained: What it means and how it works

By James Leeland - Last Updated on 12 Oct, 2026

Editorial Policy Affiliate Disclaimer

The MVP award is one of the most prestigious in pro sports – whether it’s the regular season or finals MVP. Only the best obtain this prize and US sportsbooks allow you to bet on who you think will win it!

This is why in this article we are looking at how to bet on the MVP. If you read on, you’ll learn what this type of bet is, how it works, how the MVP award is given in different sports such as the NBA and NFL, and tips on effective MVP betting.

Table of Contents

What Is MVP Betting?
Understanding the MVP for Different Pro US Sports
How to Bet on the MVP Race?
Pros and Cons of MVP Betting
Tips for Betting on the MVP of a Pro Sports League
Take Your Shot at Predicting the Next MVP Today!
MVP Betting FAQs

What Is MVP Betting?

MVP = Most Valuable Player

This is an award typically given for both regular season performance, and finals performance to a single player. For example, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander was the 2025 NBA Regular Season MVP playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Media personalities and sportswriters typically determine the outcome of the MVP race by voting.

MVP betting is simply a bet on who you think will be the next MVP. For example, you might place a bet on Shai-Gilgeous Alexander also being the 2025 NBA Finals MVP. If the OKC Thunder progress to the NBA Finals, and he gets the Finals MVP, you would win your bet.

Understanding the MVP for Different Pro US Sports

There are multiple MVP awards for different US pro leagues and as part of this online betting guide, it’s important that you understand the differences and how/when the awards are presented. We are concentrating mainly on the regular season MVPs here, and we’ve summarized the awards for each sport below:

Sport	MVP Details
MLB Baseball	The regular season MVP votes are done before the postseason and these are done by the BBWAA. Although the votes are done before the playoffs, the MVP is not announced until after the World Series.
NBA Basketball	A panel of broadcasters and sportswriters vote for the regular season MVP on a points-based system, and the results are usually announced part way through the NBA Playoffs.
NFL Football	50 sportswriters cast their votes for the NFL regular season MVP between the regular season and playoffs. The MVP results are historically announced the day before the Super Bowl.
NHL Ice Hockey	Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association vote for the regular season MVP. Three finalists are usually announced, and the winner is revealed after the playoffs.

How to Bet on the MVP Race?

Like straight betting explained, once you understand how the MVP race works, and what the bet entails, actually placing your MVP bet couldn’t be easier. As with any type of bet, you must have a valid account with the sportsbook. We’ve described the typical registration process below:

Click one one of the links on this page to open a sportsbook.
Find and click on the register button.
Complete the instructions and provide the required details.
Accept and terms and conditions.
Finalize the account registration.
Verify your email or SMS if needed.

With your account created, you then need to head to the specific sports category for where you want to place your MVP bet. There might be a generic “specials” section, but we usually find that special bets like the MVP and other awards are contained within their specific sport category.

Where the actual MVP bet section is located may differ depending on the sportsbook. Oftentimes, the sports section will have a futures, specials, or awards betting section. Once you’ve found this, it’s simply a case of finding the MVP bet.

With MVP bets, you’ll usually have a complete list of potential candidates. For example, with the NBA, you might see odds for Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetkounmpo, and Luka Doncic. You just have to select the odds next to the person you want to pick and it should add the selection to your bet slip. You can then enter your bet amount and finalize it.

Pros and Cons of MVP Betting

Like a prop betting strategy, there are pros and cons when it comes to MVP betting and you have to think about these before jumping in and making your selection.

Pros and cons

The odds are usually high
Easy bets to place
Plenty of research and facts available

Small chance of winning
High variance on odds

Tips for Betting on the MVP of a Pro Sports League

When looking at how to bet on the MVP you have to realize that it’s not like a standard sports bet. There is much more room for error and a much wider scope for what you can do. To help you get started, we’ve listed five simple tips you can follow below. We’ve also got similar guides on things like straight betting explained that can offer further advice.

🏆 Take Advantage of Official League MVP Rankings

You’ll find that throughout the regular season, most leagues will have official MVP rankings that can be used to give you an idea of who is in contention and who the sportswriters and analysts are already favoring. For example, with the NBA, they have the official Kier MVP rankings table which is updated monthly. This often proves to be not far from the mark, and we think that info like this can be invaluable when you’re making your MVP bet decision.
📊 Do Your Homework and Look at Current Performance and Stats

We don’t believe that you can place an MVP bet blindly without looking at current stats and performance of the players and teams. You need to take a deep dive into the statistics of the top players and look for either players who are having an unbelievable season in one category, or who are above-average in multiple categories. Also look at team standings and performance as this is often a factor for MVP consideration.
📱 Research via Social Media and YouTube

Oftentimes during a regular season, you will find that there is an overarching candidate who the media is pushing, or who is expected to win. For example, in the 2025 NBA season, the MVP race was mainly between Nikola Jokic and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. Despite Jokic averaging a triple-double on awesome efficiency, the media and narrative was already pushing Alexander to win, which he ultimately did. This means that sometimes the narrative and media perspective is more important than actual stats and performance.
💰 Consider Placing a Larger Bet than Usual

If you were looking at in play betting explained, you would not use this strategy. BUT, we feel that MVP betting is one time where it’s OK to place a larger than usual bet. This is a one-off bet – you will make it once per season, and as the odds are typically much higher than standard moneyline bets and other types of in-game bets, why not?
🎁 Look Out for Bonuses and Promotions from the Sportsbook

Lastly, when looking at how to bet on the MVP, we always recommend looking at what promotions the US sportsbook has. For example, if you are signing up to a new sportsbook, you might get a welcome bonus that includes free bets – perhaps you could use your free bet to make an MVP bet. There’s also often things like bet boosts and profit boosts which could be useful when making this type of one-off bet.

Take Your Shot at Predicting the Next MVP Today!

You should now have a clear idea of how to bet on the MVP for the top American pro leagues. We think this is one of the more exciting types of bets you can make, as due to the high variance of the awards, the odds are often much higher compared to outright bets on a single game, for example. Remember that the MVP bet will typically be found in the futures or special bets section for the relevant sport.

All that’s left is for you to give it a try! We’ve got a wave of recommended sportsbooks linked here that you can check out. The remaining question is, do you play it safe and go for one of the likely MVPs, or do you go with your heart and bet on someone who you would like to see become the MVP for your chosen sport?

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MVP Betting FAQs

Not necessarily. From experience, most popular US sportsbooks do have futures bets on various league MVP’s, but it’s not guaranteed.
You first need to have a valid account with the sportsbook. Once you’ve created that, you will find the MVP bet in the futures or special bets section of the sport you wish to bet on. It’s then a case of picking your MVP candidate, entering your bet amount, and finalizing your selection.
Research and analyzing current league trends are key to making a successful MVP selection. Most of the leagues will have MVP rankings tables that you can look at which will give you insight.