Last Saturday night, the Arlington Renegades won the second XFL Championship Game, defying the football betting odds and dashing the hopes of the DC Defenders.
The Renegades were +6.5-point underdogs for the XFL Championship and 6-point dogs to the Houston Roughnecks for the South Division Championship Game (aka the XFL Playoffs, aka the XFL Semifinals).
In both postseason matchups, those that bet on the Arlington Renegades to win were rewarded with handsome payouts, as they overcame the odds and beat the Roughnecks by 15 and then the Defenders by 9.
Both of these feats were accomplished after finishing the regular season with four wins and six losses. There was even a chance that the San Antonio Brahmas could have replaced Arlington in the XFL Playoffs by winning their final game against DC, but they lost that contest by a score of 29-28.
That meaningless Week 10 win for the Defenders inadvertently placed their XFL Championship Game opponent into the playoffs.
For the past two weeks, we’ve been sheepishly advising readers to consider Arlington when betting on the XFL Playoffs. Their futures were often well behind the St. Louis Battlehawks, a team that didn’t qualify for the postseason in 2023.
While the league does deserve some criticism for installing a playoff format that would include a 4-6 team over a franchise that finished 7-3, the Renegades were able to take out two of the best teams in the XFL in consecutive games.
Now that the season has concluded, XFL players are already beginning to sign with NFL teams. San Antonio Brahmas kicker John Parker Romo has been signed by the Detroit Lions, and Seattle Sea Dragons QB Ben DeNucci has been picked up by the Denver Broncos.
Ten other players are now members of National Football League rosters, indicating that the XFL has given their athletes the best chance to move up the ladder by ending the season in mid-May.
The USFL will not play their Championship Game until July 1st, giving XFL players an edge of over six weeks to impress NFL scouts.
Of all the XFL bet types, futures have the potential to remain active at online sportsbooks for the entire calendar year, not just during the season. Futures odds can debut for the following season even before the current year’s XFL Championship Game has been played.
As of this writing, there are no XFL futures posted at the sports gambling sites we prefer, and that is largely due to the reloading of rosters with new players each season.
There is also the uncertainty regarding which teams will be a part of the league in 2024.
Between 2021 and 2023, two teams relocated (the Tampa Bay Vipers to Las Vegas and New York Guardians to Orlando) while another – the Los Angeles Wildcats – was replaced by the San Antonio Brahmas.
The league could look to expand to add more franchises or explore new markets by continued relocation. Once all teams are locked in for 2024, the XFL futures odds should debut shortly after.