ESPN's dedicated homepage for scores, news and articles about Darts. Two-time world champion Adrian Lewis was on the end of a major shock in the opening round of the William Hill World. William Hill becomes official ESPN odds supplier Sep. 14, 2020 at 10:59 am Updated Sep. 14, 2020 at 1:15 pm FILE – This June 23, 2019, file photo shows Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are causing oddsmakers to post numbers that the betting market hasn't seen since the New York Yankees' dynasty of the late 1990s.

Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill on Thursday opened the Dodgers' 2021 season-win total at 104.5. That's tied with the 1999 Yankees for the highest win total at sportsbooks in the past 32 seasons, according to odds archive SportsOddsHistory.com.

In addition to the reigning World Series champion Dodgers, four other teams also opened with win totals of 90 or higher -- the Yankees (97), Atlanta Braves (92), San Diego Padres (92) and Chicago White Sox (90.5).

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the other end of the spectrum and opened with a win total of 58, tied with the 1993 expansion Florida Marlins for the lowest win total in the past 32 seasons. The Colorado Rockies have the next-lowest opening win total this season at 62.5.

Other notable totals at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill include the New York Mets (89), defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays (88.5), Houston Astros (88), St. Louis Cardinals (88), Philadelphia Phillies (81.5), Chicago Cubs (79.5) and Boston Red Sox (77).

As pitchers and catchers begin reporting for spring training, the Dodgers are the clear-cut, consensus favorites to win the World Series, with odds around +350 at most sportsbooks. At William Hill sportsbooks in Nevada, the Dodgers are even shorter, at +200. The 1999 Yankees also began the season at +200 to win the World Series.

'It's very rare for a baseball team to be that low before the season,' Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S., said in a company release.

Last year, the Dodgers posted a .717 winning percentage in the abbreviated 60-game regular season, which translates to 116 wins in a full 162-game slate. Only two teams -- the 1906 Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners -- have won 116 games in a season.

After beating the Rays in last year's World Series, the Dodgers re-signed star players Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and pitcher Walker Buehler and bolstered their pitching staff by acquiring National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer.

The Dodgers were the betting favorite in every game last season, including in the playoffs, a streak that's likely to continue in 2021.

'This Dodgers team, on paper, looks like an All-Star team in a lot of ways,' Randy Blum, an oddsmaker for the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, told ESPN. 'If you look at their pitching staff, you could take any of their top guys, whether it's [Clayton] Kershaw, Bauer or Buehler, and throw them at home against the Pirates, and those numbers are going to be absurd.'

ESPN's Vince Masi contributed to this report.

William Hill Espn

ESPN has ramped up its involvement in the US sports betting sector thanks to two new deals with DraftKings and Caesars/WilliamHill.

Caesars/Hill was named the exclusive odds provider for ESPN, while DraftKings was named the exclusive daily fantasy sports provider.

Both partners will get co-exclusive sportsbook link integrations across ESPN digital platforms.

All links under the Caesars part of the deal will direct to William Hill, since the bookmaker now handles all Caesars betting operations.

It’s understood ESPN will receive minimum revenue guarantees, as well as referral fees for each new customer sign-up.

Big step for ESPN

ESPN VP of business development and innovation Mike Morrison hailed a “significant milestone” for ESPN as it “deepened its commitment to sports betting.”

The media giant first dipped its toe sports betting back in May 2019 through a content deal with Caesars. However, the latest arrangement means the media giant is now essentially a sports betting affiliate. All betting will take place on the partner platforms.

“Sports betting is quickly becoming endemic to the overall experience of the sports fan,” said ESPN VP Mark Walker.

Walker said betting would help grow ESPN’s brand and fan engagement.

“It is an industry that we will continue to actively pursue as it grows and evolves,” Walker added.

ESPN also recently opened a studio at The LINQ Hotel to ramp up its sports betting content.

The nuts and bolts of the deals

Sportsbook links will be integrated into ESPN.com web and mobile and the ESPN Fantasy app.

Under the arrangement, DraftKings Sportsbook will also power integrations across other ESPN platforms, beginning with daily fantasy sports segments on ESPN’s premier studio shows.

William Hill Esports

“We are very excited to be expanding our relationship with ESPN to include deeper integration of both our sports betting and daily fantasy sports offerings across their platforms,” said DraftKings CEO Jason Robins.

“ESPN’s reach amongst sports fans is unparalleled, and the start of NFL is the perfect time for DraftKings to be launching this integration.”

Meanwhile, William Hill will be become a sponsor of ESPN’s fantasy products, alongside the a exclusive odds provider tag.

“ESPN is one of the pre-eminent brands in sports,” said William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson. “Tens of millions of fans will now have a direct link to our sports betting apps and odds, Giving ESPN users this access will accelerate our leadership as we continue to expand in the US.”