NFL

The NFL is the most-watched sport in the U.S., and by a wide margin, which has made football the most popular sport to bet on in the country. Since sportsbooks know that the NFL season is their quote-on-quote busy season, the number of markets, promotions, and bet types offered typically grows each year.

Comparing online sportsbooks and their NFL betting markets

Due to the fact that the NFL is the most popular league to bet on, it can be challenging for bettors to find an edge or get a solid price on a game. This is why line shopping and having multiple betting accounts are essential. The NFL is a game of inches, and so is betting on it, as a half point could be the difference between a profit and a loss.

With that said, as a company, we’ve found that sportsbooks like Caesars and Circa Sportsbook typically offer the sharpest lines for the NFL. As for NFL bettors that like to place either moneyline or player prop parlays, sportsbooks like BetMGM and BetRivers typically offer weekly parlay insurance, which allows bettors to get their initial stake back in bonus bets if their parlay isn’t successful.

Live betting on the NFL can also be extremely profitable if done correctly. In this case, we have found a shop like DraftKings is very worthy of checking out since they offer an excellent range of live betting markets.

NFL and Daily Fantasy Sports

Even with the sports betting market continuing to grow, fantasy football, in specific DFS contests for the NFL, still has a considerable following. Three contests generally draw the most entrants, including drafting a lineup to compete against groups of varying size, Pick’em contests, and Versus contests.

As far as drafting best ball lineups for a full season, a full slate of games, or just one game, both Underdog Fantasy and Sleeper are two of the best apps on the market. Both products allow players to filter each draft to their specific needs, and an app like Underdog constantly offers big money contests that can lead to huge returns.

When it comes to Pick’em style contests, which generally entail picking over or under on a certain stat for a player, the more picks in a given entry will increase the playout multiplier, essentially just like a parlay would. For NFL fans interested in this contest style, an app like PrizePicks is an excellent place to start.

Recommended Apps for NFL DFS Contests:

• Underdog Fantasy

• Sleeper 

• PrizePicks

• Vivid Picks

• OwnersBox

• ParlayPlay

• Boom Fantasy

• SuperDraft

• Thrive Fantasy

What kind of NFL bets can you place?

With sports betting becoming more and more common to talk about on national television, it has become natural for NFL preview shows to display a specific game's point spread, point total, and moneyline prices. While those are the most common betting markets for the NFL, they are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to markets that are available in most sportsbooks.

The numbers seen for point spreads, totals, and moneylines are almost always for the entire game, but bettors can also find numbers and prices for these markets for individual quarters and halves for a game. Team totals are the same way, as bettors can wager on a team's full game team total, or they can focus on just their first half or first quarter team total.

Now, before we get into player props, which are a massive market, there are also team-specific props offered for each game. These markets could include how many third downs a team converts on or how many touchdowns a team will score. When live betting, these markets could include whether a team will get past a specific yard marker or whether the next play on the drive will either be a pass or a run.

Last but certainly not least, player prop markets draw a ton of attention from bettors. On a basic level, these markets for a given game will include a quarterback's over/under on his passing yards or a wide receiver's over/under on his receptions. Other prop markets include whether a player will score a touchdown and the over/under on tackles made by a defensive player.

Team futures

Betting on the NFL does not just have to be a week-to-week occurrence. Instead, bettors can place season-long futures, which can add even more excitement to the season. At the most basic levels, these future bets could include win totals, division winners, league winners, and the Super Bowl champion.

All of the aforementioned markets are ones that bettors can find on nearly all sports betting apps, but on occasion, individual sportsbooks will create their own season-long futures. For example, on DraftKings Sportsbook, they currently have a team special listed for the Ravens, which is “Ravens to score 1+ rushing touchdown in each regular season game,” priced at (+800).

Super Bowl winner

Every NFL team's ultimate goal is to lift the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season. From a betting perspective, not only is the game one of the most bet-on sporting events every year, but bettors can start wagering on the Super Bowl during the offseason by placing futures on who will win it all.

Placing a future before the season can be extremely profitable; for example, in 2018, a $100 bet during the preseason on the Eagles to win the Super Bowl paid out $1,500.

READ MORE: Super Bowl Betting Odds

NFL conference & divisional winners

Instead of taking one big shot at the Super Bowl winner, bettors can add plenty of other futures to their portfolio, including winners of each conference and division. Depending on which market bettors want to target, the odds could be much shorter; for example, the Chiefs have won the AFC West in eight straight seasons, so they are unsurprisingly heavy favorites to win it again during the 2024 season.

READ MORE: NFL Conference Winner Odds

READ MORE: NFL Divisional Winner Odds

Who makes it to the playoffs?

Betting on whether or not a team makes the playoffs gives bettors double the options as most NFL futures bets. Not only can bettors wager on whether a team will make the playoffs, but they can also bet that a team will not make the postseason. This allows NFL fans to increase their futures portfolios by betting yes on teams they think could surprise people and no on teams that may have a tough schedule or play in a tough division.

READ MORE: Odds to Make the NFL Playoffs

Other team futures & specials

While all of the aforementioned future markets receive a ton of wagers before and throughout the season, arguably the biggest NFL futures market is win total bets. This is another important market to line shop in, as sportsbooks will have differing prices on the over or under, depending on which side a bettor is leaning for a given team.

Bettors can also find alternate win total markets or team specials. These team specials will vary depending on the sportsbook, but some of the more common ones include which team will score the most points during the regular season or which team will allow the fewest points during the regular season.

Player futures & awards

Futures betting is not limited to betting on entire teams. NFL fans can also wager on their favorite players to win awards or lead the league in certain statistical categories. As soon as the odds are released during the offseason, bettors can start placing futures on who will win awards like MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and more.

Odds for these awards fluctuate frequently throughout the season, so finding the right time to place a future bet on a player can be difficult. For example, a $10 bet on Brock Purdy to win MVP before the season would pay out $170 at (+1600) odds, but if the 49ers quarterback goes on a tear to start the season, a $10 bet on him during week five could pay out $90 if his odds had dropped to (+800).

The same premise applies to placing future bets on league leaders for statistical categories, as one big week from a running back could drastically affect the odds board for the regular season rushing yards leader.

Most valuable player

The NFL's talent pool only gets deeper each year, so winning the MVP is a highly impressive achievement. This award typically winds up in the hands of a quarterback, as a position other than QB has only won it four times since 2000. With that, the odds board for MVP is typically QB-heavy, especially since 2018, only three players have taken home the award, including Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Aaron Rodgers.

READ MORE: NFL MVP Odds

Offensive & defensive player of the year

Now, while the MVP award is dominated by quarterbacks, the Offensive Player of the Year Award generally winds up in the hands of a running back or wide receiver. In the past, bettors have been successful when wagering on dynamic players like Christian McCaffery, who won the OPOY in 2023.

On the defensive side of the ball, the possibilities of who could win Player of the Year are a bit wider, but over the past few seasons, the award has landed in the hands of a pass rusher. With that, one betting strategy could be placing a full unit on a player to lead the league in sacks and then a half unit on that player to win DPOY.

READ MORE: NFL Offensive & Defensive Players of the Year Odds

Rookie of the year

One of the most exciting parts about the NFL is watching young players take over the league, and fans can bet on the next big star by placing a wager on the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The winner of these awards generally varies depending on the draft class. A draft class with a lot of quarterbacks, like 2024, will see that position dominate the odds board. However, in 2022, when there was a weaker quarterback class in the draft, fans saw Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson bring home the award.

READ MORE: NFL Rookie of the Year Odds

Coach of the year award

A good coach in the NFL can be the difference between a deep postseason run and missing the playoffs. That said, this award is not just handed to the coach whose team has the best record. Instead, this award is a bit more narrative-based, meaning that first-year head coaches who have success or coaches who turn a franchise around from one year to the next will likely be the ones that bettors see near the top of the oddsboard throughout the season.

READ MORE: NFL Coach of the Year Odds

Comeback player of the year

Injuries are a very unfortunate part of the NFL, but the players who recover from injuries and return to be successful the following season can be rewarded with the Comeback Player of the Year award.

This does not always mean that a player who was previously injured the year prior will automatically win this award. In 2023, Damar Hamlin was the heavy favorite to win after he returned to the field following his life-threatening injury. However, Joe Flacco ended up winning the award after he was signed midseason and led the Browns to the playoffs.

READ MORE: NFL Comeback Player Of The Year Odds

Betting on stat leaders

Of all the futures markets available to bettors, the stat leader markets may be the most exhilarating to bet on. During any given week or stretch of weeks, a player could shoot up the leaderboard for a given stat, which in turn could cause shockwaves on the oddsboard.

NFL fans can bet on the regular season league leader for passing yards, receiving yards, rushing yards, and sacks, and they can also bet on the rookie leader in passing and receiving yards.

READ MORE: NFL Stat Leader Odds

1st overall draft pick

As the years have gone on, betting on the NFL Draft has gotten bigger and bigger. As the markets around draft season continue to grow, the one that remains open is the betting odds for the number one pick.

Betting on this market requires additional eyes on college football, which, much like the NFL, can be unpredictable. Just a few years ago, Joe Burrow started the season as an average SEC quarterback in the eyes of most, yet by halfway through the season, he was flying up the oddsboard to be the number one pick.

READ MORE: NFL Draft Betting Odds

Other player specials bets

Sportsbooks don’t just offer specials for team-specific futures. Most sports betting apps will also provide player-specific special bets for select players. An excellent example of this type of market would be “Kirk Cousins To Throw 35+ Passing Touchdowns,” which, prior to the 2024 season, is priced at (+450).

Where these “specials” are located will ultimately vary based on the sportsbooks. On FanDuel, a bettor can find player futures under “Player Specials” and “Team Specials.” While some big-name players like Kirk Cousins or Patrick Mahomes may get their own set of futures bets, other players may get one bet that falls in the “Team Specials” section.