Overview

Soccer in the United States of America has desperately been trying to legitimize its professional leagues and gain fans. The USA USL Championship has been able to do so despite being a second-tier league. Many countries in Europe have lower-level tier leagues for teams to rise up the tiers, and it allows youth players to get first-team reps without sacrificing the success of a top team.

The United States is trying to expand that model within the country, and the USL Championship is playing a role in that. This expansion also opens new avenues for soccer betting enthusiasts.

USA USL Championship history

The USL Championship initially set out to be its own league founded in 2011. The league wanted to incorporate teams outside the 50 states, forming teams in Puerto Rico. The first season held 12 teams, but after the teams in Puerto Rico left the league, the USL Championship’s second season only featured 11 teams.

The league stalled until 2015 when the number of teams jumped from 14 to 24 in just one season.

A big reason was the expansion of the MLS, the top league in the United States. The MLS teams were forming partnerships with USL Championship teams to bring up their youth players on loans.

In 2014, LA Galaxy created its first official affiliate team, forming LA Galaxy II, playing in the USL Championship since then, and other teams have followed.

While also providing a league for MLS teams to groom young talent, it was a pathway for USL Championship teams to join the MLS. FC Cincinnati, Nashville SC, Orlando City SC, and Ottawa Fury FC (which became Miami FC) have all made the promotion from the USL Championship to the MLS.

How USA USL Championship Odds Work

Like most soccer leagues, the USA USL Championship allows bettors to bet on soccer. The league is broken up into two conferences, similar to the MLS and most sports in the United States of America. Each conference plays each team within its conference once away and at home, along with extra games for regional rival games. The top six teams in each conference make a single-elimination playoff.

These games give bettors many options to bet on soccer betting lines throughout the season. BetUS makes that easy, providing lines and over-under for each game, enhancing the experience with various soccer odds.

USA USL Championship Betting Strategy

Betting on the USA USL Championship can be a challenging soccer bet to make. Because the league is a second-tier league in the United States, it does not get as much media coverage as the MLS.

However, this presents an opportunity for bettors if they study the league to make money on the USL Championship soccer lines. The league is featured on ESPN+ after a recent contract agreement, which does help with some media coverage. If you study the league hard enough, you can easily bet against a favorite or pick out a team or player who could have a great year. Identifying soccer betting odds that offer value can be crucial in this process.

USA USL Championship Prop Bets

Prop bets on the USA USL Championship can be rare, but a league fan can take advantage of some favorable soccer odds. Due to the league’s many teams affiliated with the MLS, some youth players get their first starts in the USL Championship. That allows players who have the potential to succeed in the MLS to get first-team starts in a competitive situation, rather than riding the bench for a season in the MLS.

Finding the players with the upside to make it to the next level of experience in top-tier soccer or Europe can help predict who might score in any game.

USA USL Championship Most Important Teams

The USL Championship, as of 2022, features five MLS affiliate teams after the MLS started its own affiliate MLS league called MLS Next Pro.

The last remaining teams are Atlanta United 2, Loudoun United FC, New York Red Bulls II, LA Galaxy II, and Las Vegas Lights FC.

In just four seasons in the USL Championship, the Orlando City SC won five major trophies, which led to it leaving the league to join the MLS. No other franchise comes close to that many trophies, with four teams tied with two.

Team Future Bets

Making a future bet on a team in the USA USL Championship can be challenging. Due to the leagues following a conference-style format that leads to the playoffs, picking a league winner can be difficult.

In a single-elimination, anything can happen, leading to a heavy favorite having an early exit, especially in soccer, where mistakes can be extremely costly.

Furthermore, the five affiliate teams are not looking to win the league every season. Those teams’ goal is not primarily to win, but to provide playing time to young players who can then be sent back to the top-tier team in the MLS and perform there. These teams often operate as a farm team for the first team squad.

These factors make it challenging to pick a team that might win the league. However, the teams that are not affiliated with MLS teams could be looking to become the next expansion MLS team, and winning can help that happen. Figuring out what teams have the financial backing to make that happen will likely be the best bet to win the league.

Individual Future Bets

Similar to future team bets, the USA USL Championship’s style of the league does not provide an easy way to bet on who might lead the league in goals or assists. Players playing for the affiliate teams will often split their time between the USL Championship and MLS teams.

On the other hand, those are the players with the highest upside to succeed in the future, which could show up in their playing days in the USL Championship.

Brenden Aaronson, an up-and-coming star for the USA Men’s National Team, who played 24 games for Philadelphia Union II, has gone to play for Leeds United in the Premier League. He scored one goal in the USL Championship but is just one player who moved on to better and brighter things.

Older players who have teetered between MLS and second-tier teams may work out in a bettor’s favor. Making it back, or getting their first chance in the MLS, could be the goal for many players on non-affiliated teams, which could lead to them having some high-scoring seasons.

Over Under Bets

For single-game over-under bets, relying on what has already happened during the season is crucial. Look at how teams have been performing on defense and offense. If both teams have not been scoring many goals in the season, going under the goal total for a game makes sense, and vice versa for offense and taking the over.
Looking at over-under for player or team prop bets is just as complicated as regular future bets. The difference between affiliate and regular teams makes it hard to figure out what players and teams will succeed each season.

Moneyline/Full-Time Result Bet

Like most sports, betting on a single game outcome is the most common and easiest to do. These games appear on ESPN+, so watching and finding an excellent game-to-game betting angle can be something a fan of the USL Championship can pick up. Following the league and seeing how teams perform on a week-to-week basis will help you pick winners, or if the game will end in a draw, for every USL Championship game.