How To Bet On NFL
Football is America’s favourite sport and it is no surprise that betting on the football is one of the most popular forms of wagering in the United States.
Betting on the NFL
The NFL is played over a 17-week schedule and has a total of 256 games, showing what an attractive proposition it is for sports bettors.
With a jam-packed roster and literally hundreds of markets to choose from punters are spoilt for choice when it comes to the NFL.
You will find fixtures laid out in time and day order at sportsbooks, so you know which game(s) are coming up and can easily identify the NFL game you want to place a bet on. You can choose to bet on the outcome of a single game or a combination of a few in a parlay.
Betting opportunities on the NFL are enormous and you will find hundreds of different markets to bet on. Sportsbooks will offer markets on the moneyline, points betting, touchdowns and many individual player markets.
NFL Spread Betting
As football is traditionally a high-scoring sport compared to others, one of the most popular forms of wagering on the NFL is the spread. The spread or otherwise known as the line determines whether a team is favorite or underdog. Let’s say New England Patriots is playing the New York Jets. New England is the favorite and has been assigned a spread of -8, effectively meaning that the Pats would have to win by 9 clear points in order for anybody who backed them to win their bet.
On the other hand, The Jets have been assigned a spread of +8 meaning they have been given 8 points before the game has even begun. So for example, let’s say New England Patriots win as expected but it’s a lot tighter than people anticipated and the final score was 33-28 to the Pats.
Anybody who wagered on New York Jets +8 would have won their bet and be in profit because New England’s winning margin was only by 5 points (3 below the +8 spread assigned to The Jets).
This is a really popular option for NFL fans because it means you can still potentially win a bet even if the team you backed failed to win. Another reason why wagering on the spread is a great option for bettors is because you can get better value on a heavy favorite, than just a simple moneyline bet, which brings us nicely on to the next section.
NFL Moneyline
This is one of the most traditional forms of betting and is effectively just betting on the outcome/winner of a game. There will always (usually) be a favorite and an underdog. Let’s say Buffalo Bills are playing the Washington Redskins. The Redskins are favorites and have been assigned odds of -500 and Bills are +350. The minus sign (-) always shows who the favorite is in a game, whereas the plus (+) is the underdog.
To make $100 profit betting on The Washington Redskins, you would need to lay $500, but should Buffalo Bills pull off a shock and win, a $100 wager would earn the fortunate bettor a whopping $350 profit.
College Football Betting
It’s not just the NFL that you can bet on, sportsbooks will offer wagers and odds on college football as well. In 2018, The American Gaming Association reported $4.7 billion was wagered on football and over 12 million of those bets were wagered on college football.
In Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) there are currently 130 schools participating. Each play 12 games a season, highlighting the vast amount of games fans can bet on. This may also play into the hands of the bettor as there as so many college football games to cover, sportsbook may not know as much about each individual team, and knowledgeable bettors may profit from this.
College football betting works the same as betting on the NFL, sportsbooks will offer markets on moneyline, point spread, point total, proposition bets and parlays.
How to Win Money Betting on Football
Although a wager on a game of football can make it a more interesting spectacle, ultimately the end goal of any football bet is to make money.
More casual football fans may put on the odd bet here and there but there are people out there betting professionally and making money from it regularly.
Of course, any seasoned bettor will tell you that you will not win every single bet but if you study form, stats and have good knowledge about football there is a fair chance you will beat the bookmaker and make yourself some money.
How to Bet on Football
You now know about the markets, odds and options you have with football betting but how and where do you go to place the bets?
Good news, BetTodayUSA has all the best and most trusted sportsbooks listed on site, be sure to check them out to see which ones have the most attractive sign up offers and is the best fit for you.