Sounders now favorites to repeat as MLS Cup champs

Oddsmakers still think the Seattle Sounders’ are the favorites to repeat as MLS Cup champions, despite the strong possibility that the final will be played on the road.

FiveThirtyEight gives the Sounders a 40% chance of repeating as winners, while DraftKings will pay out at +115. The Columbus Crew, by contrast, are at 29% and +200. Should the Crew win the Eastern Conference final, they would host MLS Cup no matter who advances out of the Western Conference.

The Sounders have been among the favorites to win MLS Cup for most of the season, with only LAFC consistently going off at lower odds. According to the odds-tracking site Sports Betting Dime, the highest odds you could have ever gotten the Sounders at was +1400, which is where they were in August.

More recently, however, Sporting KC’s odds had dipped below the Sounders’. On Nov. 25, KC were at +230 while the Sounders were at +340. With KC out of the way, the payout on a Sounders’ win dropped by nearly two-thirds.