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If you have been following the Gambling911.com website these last few days, it is little secret that the Little League World Series has been a monster event in terms of betting.
SportsBetting.ag has been one of the few books offering odds on the LLWS this year and they have been benefitting significantly as a result.
ESPN is also supporting just how huge the Little League World Series has been. Ratings are through the roof.
The 2022 Little League Softball World Series was ESPN's most-watched since it expanded coverage of the tournament in 2017, according to Nielsen. It averaged 294,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, up 19 percent from last year and up 21 percent from 2019.2.
According to SportsBetting.ag, there has been more wagered on this year's LLWS than any other previous year.
"It's an exciting product that our players can't get enough of," Robert Cooper, the website's Director of Trading, said. "The kids play like pros, and every game is on national TV so it's easy to connect the dots regarding popularity. From the oddsmaking side, it was difficult to handicap the teams initially, but like the bettors, we have been doing our homework every stage of the tournament."
SportsBetting.ag initially gave Hawaii 10-1 (+1000) odds to win the LLWS. Now, the kids from Honolulu are the odds-on favorites to capture another championship.
Honolulu is 4-0 in the series thus far and is the big -950 favorite in Saturday's game vs. Tennessee.
They already beat Tennessee in a 13-0 shutout to advance on Wednesday.
Taipei City is second on the futures board and had +800 odds at the outset of the tourney. Curacao started with +1200 odds while Tennessee actually had better odds to begin (+900).
Below you will find LLWS Championship odds as well as game lines for Saturday's semifinal matchups.
(NOTE: The Hawaii line is comparable to a 17-point favorite in football)
2022 Little League World Series Odds
West Region (Hawaii) -200
Asia-Pacific Region (Taipei City) +300
Caribbean Region (Curacao) +900
Southeast Region (Tennessee) +1000
International Final Odds (ABC, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday)
Asia-Pacific (Taipei City) -285
Caribbean (Curacao) +225
U.S. Final Odds (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday)
West (Hawaii) -950
Southeast (Tennessee) +650
The third-place game will take place on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN while the LLWS Championship game is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
