American Football, like soccer and ice hockey, is an online gambler’s paradise.
It is true that there are a limited amount of matches played, and there are only three major American football competitions – The NFL, the NCAAF (American College Football), and the Canadian NFL.
However, the huge number of gambling markets available to bet on make American Football very attractive to punters through the winter.
American football betting markets
There are hundreds of markets available from outright betting to match betting to statistics betting to in-game (live) betting.
Because an American football is played over four “quarters” there are also multiple markets available for each quarter, the two halves and for the whole game.
There are also multiple “ante-post” (pre-season) specials, in game specials and also bets available for individual performances – especially for the quarterbacks and the receivers.
The American football markets basically combine the soccer, basketball and ice hockey markets all together and add more possible bets within those markets!
For example, if an American Football match is tied at the end of the fourth quarter then it is usually decided by an added time period and in the playoffs there maybe added time periods until there is a final result.
The amount of games played in a standard season (each team plays sixteen games in a regular season) is enough so that accumulator betting is also possible with the chance for big returns.
NFL - The biggest betting market
The most popular American Football betting market is of course the NFL (The National Football League of the U.S.) which is played in the United States from September to January.
There is also a “pre-season” where the American Football teams will play “friendly” or “practice” matches in August.
These games are usually taken very seriously and so betting is also available on these matches too.
February is when the final “Superbowl” is played and is the most watched individual sporting event in the United States and attracts a huge amount of betting across the betting planet.
The NFL is where you can find the most betting markets and the most exciting on-line gambling taking place.
What is the NFL?
The NFL is the National Football League of the United States. As with basketball, baseball and ice hockey, the teams are divided and separated into multiple divisions and conferences.
In American Football in the U.S. there are two conferences – The NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference).
Each conference has 16 teams divided into four divisions of four teams. The divisions are simply called North, South, East and West.
Is American Football played any where else?
Canada has its own version of American Football with slightly different rules and a smaller number of teams.
The Canadian Football season runs from June to November.
The NCAAF (American College Football) season runs from August (Pre-season) to January when the final “bowl” is played.
Basically these are the only other American Football competitions where betting can be found.
American football outright betting markets
In terms of general outright betting markets the following popular bets are available:
To win the Division
To reach the playoffs
To gain a “Wildcard” place
To win the AFC Championship
To win the NFC Championship
To win The Super Bowl
To make the playoffs – a team must finish in first place in their division to qualify for the playoffs automatically - then four more teams are selected with the next two best teams from each conference (regardless of their division) given “wildcard” places.
Individual performance markets
Like soccer, baseball, cricket, basketball, and ice-hockey there are many ante-post “individual performance” betting markets for the best players and performances of the season of which MVP – The most valuable player is probably the most popular to bet on.
For more detailed betting and market information for pre-match and match American Football betting please see our “American Football Betting Guide.
