Betting on the Kansas City Royals
Throughout most of their history, the Royals have struggled to stay competitive year after year. When the team is competing, however, fans and bettors come out in full force and it’s great for Major League Baseball.
Kansas City Royals Franchise History
As stated above, the Royals haven’t always been a juggernaut, but they were a pretty consistent force in the American League from the mid-‘70s to the mid-‘80s.
Over a 10-year span, Kansas City appeared in 6 ALCS, 2 World Series, and they captured their first World Series title in 1985 behind George Brett.
Unfortunately, 1985 would be the last time Royals fans saw their team compete at a high level for a long time. Kansas City failed to make the playoffs until almost three full decades later.
During the early 2000s, the Royals fought just to reach 70 wins and often found themselves at the bottom of the AL Central and the entire league.
In 2014, Royals fans saw their ball club win 86 games and pick itself up from the dirt after being beaten down for so many years. The team failed to reach the playoffs, but winning more often than losing was a rare feeling at that point.
The following season, the success continued. Kansas City rode the momentum all the way to the World Series for the first time in 30 years. Sadly, they fell to the San Francisco Giants in seven games.
All of the Royals’ misery would come to an end in 2015 when the likes of Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez, and company led the club to the Promised Land.
Betting on the Royals in Missouri and Kansas
The Royals play their home games at Kauffman Stadium, which lies in Missouri, but sits just over 10 miles from the Kansas border.
Unfortunately for Royals fans looking to bet on their team from the stadium or the comfort of their nearby home, sports betting is illegal in both Missouri and Kansas.
Despite that tribulation, both states appear to be making headway toward legalization as of March 2022. In Missouri, there is support from local sports teams and casino operators to get a deal done.
Updated on: 01/26/2023
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Some experts close to the situation are optimistic that Missouri will sign a bill into law in 2022 that covers retail, mobile, and riverboat sports betting.
Across the border in Kansas, things look similar but not quite the same. In 2021, the Kansas Senate passed a bill that allowed for both mobile and retail betting. The House, however, did not agree with the terms of the bill.
As a result, the bill stalled, and talks will resume during the 2022 legislative session. The bill’s failure in 2021 is disappointing, but it is ultimately a step toward legalization.
When Missouri or Kansas does legalize sports betting, bettors can expect to see something resembling the following:
- Kansas City Royals -1.5 (-150)
- Milwaukee Brewers +1.5 (+120)
In this hypothetical matchup, the Royals are favored by 1.5 runs over the Brewers, and the Royals’ runline is juiced to -150, essentially meaning a Royals bettor is paying a premium for that runline.
If the Royals win by more than 1.5 runs, they cover the runline and cash all Royals -1.5 wagers. If the Royals win by just 1, or lose, the Brewers cover the runline.
