Football Betting Sites & Football Odds

How to Choose the Best Football Betting Site

Our expert team has spent lots of time bringing you the best online football sportsbooks. You can take a big shortcut to enjoying the top betting sites by letting us help out.

However, you might also want to do your own research. It pays knowing what to look for when scouting out top-tier sports wagering sites. The following aspects are all important when seeking a place to bet on football online.

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  Betting markets

  What American football leagues does a sportsbook cover? How many football bet types are available? These are important questions regarding American football betting markets. More bets ensure that you'll have more options to choose from.

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  Competitive odds

  Odds determine what kind of deal you're getting on an American football wager. To illustrate this point, let's say that you like the Jacksonville Jaguars on the moneyline. If Jacksonville has +205 odds at one sportsbook and +225 at another, you're getting better odds with the second bookmaker. The goal is to find mobile sportsbooks that consistently offer favourable odds during the regular season and playoffs.

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  Betting features and tools

  Features refer to the extras available at American football betting sites. Cash out, live streaming, and pre-game statistics are examples of such features. You should look for operators that offer multiple tools and a great user experience.

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  Welcome bonus and promotions

  Most mobile sportsbooks provide a welcome bonus to draw new players. Such deals can include a match deposit bonus, free bets, or risk-free bets. Ideally, you'll find a gambling site that offers many promotions beyond the welcome deal too.

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  Live streaming and in-play betting

  In-play wagering (a.k.a. live betting) gives you the chance to make wagers in the middle of games. If this sounds interesting, then the live wagering selection should be important. A sportsbook gains bonus points if it offers live streaming, which lets you quickly see live wagers play out.

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  Licensing and safety

  You should only consider licensed and regulated sportsbooks. Licensed bookmakers must follow the rules of their gambling commission and treat gamblers fairly.

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  Customer support

  Any solid sports betting site will have quality customer service. A knowledgeable support staff will answer your questions in a friendly and timely manner.

Football Betting Apps

Some football gambling sites offer sports betting apps, while others feature instant mobile play (a.k.a. in-browser wagering). In either case, you want a smooth experience that's complete with a user-friendly site/app and fast-loading pages.

Football Betting Bonus Offers

The welcome bonus is a big part of any American football sports betting site. Both the bonus' size and terms and conditions heavily weigh into the equation. As for the terms, you want lighter T&Cs so that you'll have an easier time unlocking bonus funds.

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Assuming you're experienced at sports betting, then you may have a firm grasp on American football odds. If not, we'll give you a quick primer on the subject.

Betting sites that serve Canadians typically use American odds by default. American football betting odds assign a minus sign (-) to the favourite and plus sign (+) to the underdog. Here's an example of American football odds from an NFL regular season game:

• Detroit Lions +150 (risking $100 to win $150)
• New York Giants -190 (wagering $190 to win $100)

Simply put, you're always wagering more to win less on the favourite (+). Meanwhile, you're wagering less to win more on the underdog team.

The NFL and college game draw the most attention in American football wagering. However, football actually includes various leagues across the US and Canada. You can check out the different organizations below, along with how they differ from each other.

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  NFL

  NFL betting is no doubt the most popular type of American football gambling available. It features the world's top football players and draws the most viewers. NFL regular season games begin in early September and run until early January (17 games total). The playoffs begin in early January and culminate with the Super Bowl.

• Timeframe: Early September to early February (Super Bowl).
• Number of teams: 32
• Overall Top Performing Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs

Super Bowl

The NFL playoffs begin with 14 teams and end with two teams playing in the Super Bowl. Speaking of which, Super Bowl betting is the biggest out of any annual sporting event. Well over 30 million people wager on the Super Bowl each year.

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  NCAAF

  College football currently features 131 schools in FBS Division 1. Roughly half of these teams play in the Power Five conferences, which contribute most or all of the playoff teams. Not coincidentally, NCAAF betting mostly revolves around the Power Five, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

• Timeframe: Late August to early January (National Championship)
• Number of teams: 131
• Overall Top Performing Teams: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia

College Football Playoff

NCAA football features many bowl games in December and early January. However, the College Football Playoff (CFP) is the season's pinnacle. It pits the top-four teams against each other in the semifinals and, eventually, National Championship.

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  CFL

  The CFL features Canada's professional football teams, such as the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders. That said, CFL betting draws plenty of gamblers in Canada and beyond. The regular season sees teams battle for seeding in the East and West Division. Six of the league's nine teams make the playoffs, with the East and West champs meeting in the Grey Cup.

• Timeframe: Usually runs from mid-June to late November (Grey Cup)
• Number of teams: 9
• Overall Top Performing Teams: Winnipeg Blue Bombers, BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts

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  XFL

  The Xtreme Football League originally launched in 2001 under Vince McMahon. The WWE founder relaunched the XFL in 2018, with Alpha Acquico LLC purchasing the league in 2022. Sporting eight teams total in two divisions, the XFL plays from February to April.

• Timeframe: February to April
• Number of teams: 8
• Overall Top Performing Teams: Houston Roughnecks, DC Defenders

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  USFL

  Like the XFL, the United States Football League is another reboot of an older league. The USFL rebooted in 2022, with eight teams playing the entire regular season schedule in Birmingham, Alabama. USFL playoff games took place in Canton, Ohio in 2022.

• Timeframe: April to July
• Number of teams: 8
• Overall Top Performing Teams: Birmingham Stallions, Philadelphia Stars

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The American football gambling industry offers a wide variety of bet types. You can see what to expect across different sportsbooks below.

Outright markets

An outright bet deals with the entirety of a season rather than a single game. Commonly called "futures," these bets are typically available at the beginning of a season. Here are examples of outright football bets:

Team to win AFC South

• Tennessee Titans +125
• Indianapolis Colts +255
• Houston Texans +790
• Jacksonville Jaguars +1200

Who will win the Super Bowl?

• Los Angeles Rams +350
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers +475
• Cincinnati Bengals +570
• Green Bay Packers +650
• Arizona Cardinals +800
• Las Vegas Raiders +1100
• Atlanta Falcons +1400
• Denver Broncos +2000

Who will win the AFC?

• Buffalo Bills +450
• Cincinnati Bengals +505
• Kansas City Chiefs +560
• New England Patriots +815
• Pittsburgh Steelers +1050

Team to win AFC North

• Cincinnati Bengals +275
• Baltimore Ravens +400
• Pittsburgh Steelers +800
• Cleveland Browns +950

Match Markets

A match market refers to wagers involving specific matches, or games. Match betting covers lots of territory, including everything from moneylines to prop bets. You can see a quick synopsis of these wagers below:

• Moneyline - A moneyline assigns a minus sign to the favourite (e.g., -200) and plus sign to the underdog (e.g., +250).
• Point spread - The favourite and underdog must cover their respective point spreads.
• Totals (i.e., over/under) - Based on the total points that two teams score.
• Parlays - Features multiple outcomes on the same ticket (e.g., 4-team parlay), and you must win all outcomes for a successful wager.
• Players - Based on offence player performances, such as who'll get the most yards or score a touchdown.
• Props - Bets that deal with outcomes besides the game winner or final score (e.g, who will sing the national anthem?).
• Halves & quarters - Wagering on the team that wins a quarter or either half.
• Live in-game betting - Unlike the pre-game bets covered above, live wagers pop up in the middle of games.

Some of these wagers require a deeper explanation. Here are examples of point spreads, totals, parlays, and players:

Point Spread

• Minnesota Vikings +9.5 (-110) - Vikings must lose by 9 points or less for your wager to be a winner.
• Green Bay Packers -9.5 (-110) - Packers need to win by 10 points or more for your bet to be a winner.

Totals (over/under)

• Denver Broncos: over 49.5 (-110) - Both teams must score 50 points or more for a winner.
• Las Vegas Raiders: under 49.5 (-110) - Both squads need to score 49 points or less for a winner.

Player bet (also considered futures wager)

• Who will win MVP?
• Aaron Rodgers +325
• Derrick Henry +400
• Tom Brady +455
• Russell Wilson +605

Draft Markets

Draft bets revolve around the annual NFL Draft in the spring. While there are different draft markets, the most popular involves the first player drafted. Here's an example:

Who will be the first drafted?

• Bryce Young QB Alabama +395
• Will Anderson DE Alabama +440
• C.J. Stroud QB Ohio State +500
• Jalen Carter DT Georgia +565
• Myles Murphy DE Clemson +700
• Kayshon Boutte WR LSU +895

Beyond draft markets, you can enjoy more bets like the offensive rookie or defensive rookie of the year award.

You can boost your chances of winning with football gambling through a few simple tips. The following advice is helpful for NFL betting strategy or any other league.

Tip #1: Handicap Betting

You should spend time assessing both sides of a handicap bet before risking your money. This research should include stats, injuries, team histories, coaches, average touchdown scores and more.

Tip #2: Stats of the teams

Football statistics are often widely available for each league. You'll especially find a wealth of statistics for NFL betting. You can use in-depth team and player statistics to see if one team has season advantages in certain areas.

Tip #3: Formation & line changes

Knowing lineup changes before other bettors can be a huge boost. For example, a defensive rookie might be moving into the starting lineup. We suggest following beat reporters each season to quickly get this news.

Tip #4: Injuries

The same tip from above applies to injuries during the regular season or postseason. Following insiders on Twitter or elsewhere can get you this information faster.

Tip #5: Conditions/location

Weather conditions and stadiums can have big impacts on a game. For example, rainy weather could slow down a passing team like Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.