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NFL Betting Guide: How & Where to Bet on the National Football League in 2024
Written by: Eddie Griffin
Last Updated:
Read Time: 26 minutes
In the United States, no sport attracts more sports betting interest than the NFL.
The Super Bowl is the biggest event in sports betting each year, outpacing events like the Kentucky Derby, March Madness, and the World Series. But the NFL betting bonanza isn’t limited to the league’s championship game.
Every season, NFL betting attracts billions of dollars in wagers. Whether it is betting on sides and totals for games each week, NFL player props, NFL live betting, or NFL futures like Super Bowl odds, award odds, and NFL Draft odds, the action never ends at sportsbooks and sports betting sites, even in the offseason.
Is it easy to bet on the NFL? No, it isn’t. Does that mean it is difficult to bet on the NFL? No, it doesn’t. With how many options there are and how much information there is to take in and keep up with, there is a lot of time and energy required if you bet regularly.
But the wide world of NFL betting is navigable if you put in the time, effort, and research. And in the long run, putting in that work will be worth it, even with many bumps, lumps, and thumps along the way.
Utilizing the right resources can help your NFL betting endeavors. The goal of our NFL betting guide is to be one such resource, whether you have been wagering on the National Football League since before the advent of the internet or this is your first year.
Best NFL Betting Sites: Where to Bet on the NFL in 2024
Many of the top online sportsbooks offer a wide variety of NFL odds throughout the season.
In addition to being able to bet on Super Bowl spread and over/under betting odds when the big game arrives, you can make weekly NFL picks on games all season long.
Also, you can bet on NFL MVP odds, Offensive Player of the Year odds, and NFL Defensive Player of the Year odds, and odds on the other major awards at most reputable sports betting sites.
There are plenty of online sportsbooks you can choose from that are good for wagering on the National Football League, but here are several books that we have reviewed and highly recommend:
- BetOnline (review)
- Bovada (review)
- BetUS (review)
- BetDSI (review)
- Betwhale (review)
- Everygame (review)
- MyBookie (review)
- Sportsbetting.ag (review)
If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds. Our in-depth sportsbook reviews cover available betting options, deposit and payout options, mobile betting, bonuses and promos. Those are some of the areas many bettors consider the most when deciding where to place bets.
Basics of the NFL and NFL Betting
Before placing any bets on the NFL, which features some of the biggest rivalries in sports, knowing the basics of the NFL and how to bet on it is a must.
If you are new to NFL betting, what is the basic information you should know about the league and how to bet on the NFL?
There are 32 teams, who are separated into two 16-team conferences. In each conference, there are four four-team divisions
AFC
- East: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets
- North: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers
- South: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans
- West: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers
NFC
- East: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders
- North: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
- South: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- West: Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
Each team plays 17 games over the course of an 18-week regular season, which starts in early September. During the regular season, each team has one bye week.
Most NFL regular season games are played in two time slots on Sunday afternoons, while Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, and Thursday Night Football are weekly fixtures during the season. The 2024 season will also feature games on Wednesday (Christmas Day), Friday (Black Friday), and Saturday, and Thanksgiving Day NFL games are an annual tradition.
Prior to the regular season, each team plays three preseason games. Starters don’t play much in the preseason, so the strategy for betting on preseason NFL games is different than with regular season games.
At the end of the regular season, seven teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs (the four division winners and the three teams with the best records irrespective of division finish; therefore, a team could be a wild-card team but have a better record than a team that won one of the other divisions).
The NFL playoffs consist of four rounds and culminate with the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game between the AFC champion and NFC champion.
Structure of the NFL Playoffs
- Super Wild Card Weekend: Seeds 2-7 in each conference play one another (2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5), with the division winner & higher-seeded team hosting each game.
- Divisional Round: The Super Wild Card Weekend winners join the #1 seeds in the Divisional Round. The #1 seeds host the lowest remaining seeds, while the highest remaining seeds host the other lowest remaining seeds.
- Conference Championship Round: The two remaining teams in each conference will meet to determine which teams advance to the Super Bowl. The highest remaining seed in each conference is the host for each conference championship game.
- Super Bowl: The winners of the AFC Championship Game and NFC Championship Game meet in the Super Bowl, which takes place in early February. The Super Bowl is played at an NFL team’s stadium and is typically a neutral-site game unless the team that regularly plays in that stadium advances to the Super Bowl.
Other key events on the NFL calendar are the annual coaching carousel, the free agency period, and the NFL Draft, all of which can be wagered on at many NFL betting sites like BetOnline.
Key NFL Betting Terms
There are many NFL betting terms to look out for, but here are a few of the most notable terms.
Bad Beat
Bad beats are a regular occurrence when betting on the NFL or on sports at all.
What is a bad beat? It is when a bet appears destined to win, but it loses at the end and/or in an especially agonizing way.
For example, in Super Bowl 58 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, multiple bad beats may have occurred for some bettors.
Before the game, the 49ers were point spread (which was -2 or -1.5 for most) and moneyline favorites, and the total for the game dropped to 46.5 points at many sportsbooks.
Early in the fourth quarter, the 49ers scored a touchdown to take a 16-13 lead. However, kicker Jake Moody missed the extra point, which would have put San Francisco ahead by four points.
This proved to be crucial. On their next drive, the Chiefs kicked a field goal to tie the game at 16. Then, after the 49ers responded with a field goal to take a 19-16 lead with under two minutes remaining, the Chiefs forced overtime with a field goal in the final seconds of regulation.
San Francisco received the ball first in overtime, and a field goal gave them a 22-19 lead. To win the game, cover the spread, and keep the game total under 46.5, the 49ers needed to make a defensive stop.
However, Kansas City drove down the field, and a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardeman gave them a 25-22 victory, resulting in a bad beat for anyone who bet on the under 46.5 and on the 49ers to either cover the spread or win outright.
Closing line
A closing line refers to the last betting line available before kickoff.
For example, the final spread at most Super Bowl betting sites for Super Bowl 58 was 49ers -1.5. That means that the closing line was 49ers -1.5.
Fade/Fading
Fading is a term that applies to betting on any sport, but it is a term that is frequently used in NFL betting.
Fading can refer to betting the opposite side for various reasons, or it can refer to fading the public.
For example, if the Dallas Cowboys are favored on the road but NFL betting trends point to them potentially struggling to cover or even win, taking the other team to cover the spread means that you are fading the Cowboys.
Fading the public means that you are taking the opposite side of the percentage of bets that have been placed on a particular betting line.
For example, if 75% of the spread bets on the matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs are on the Ravens to cover the spread, betting on the Chiefs to cover the spread instead means that you are fading the public. Fading the public—which is covered more in depth below (under “NFL Betting Strategies and Tips”)—is a strategy that can come into play when the percentage of bets is heavily on one side, but the percentage of money wagered is on the other side.
Hook
The hook refers to the half-point (0.5) on an NFL point spread or NFL total.
What does that mean? The extra half-point means that there will be a result no matter what side of the bet you are on. For example, if the Chiefs are favored by 3.5 points against the Cincinnati Bengals, bettors will lose by the hook if the Chiefs win by only three points.
Laying the points
When are you laying the points, that means you are betting on the point spread favorite to cover the spread.
For example, if the spread for a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles is Cowboys -5, if you lay the points on the Cowboys, that means you are betting on the Cowboys to win by six or more points.
Opening line
The opening line is the line when odds for a particular game are released.
For example, for Super Bowl 58, the opening spread at many sportsbooks was either 49ers -1.5, 49ers -2, or -49ers -2.5, while some online sportsbooks even had the 49ers at -3.
So, when referring to that initial spread, you would say that the opening line was 49ers -2.5, for example.
Push
A push is the outcome if the result matches the spread or total for a particular bet.
A push means that both sides of the bet do not win or lose, and the betting stake is refunded. For example, if the Chiefs are favored by three points against the Bengals and win by three points, Chiefs -3 and Bengals +3 push.
Unit
A unit indicates how much you are wagering on a particular betting line. A higher unit amount can indicate a high level of confidence in a particular bet, while a lower unit amount can indicate a lower-risk investment. Units are often used and mentioned when logging bets or sharing your bets on social media or elsewhere.
How much a unit is something that depends on the individual bettor. For some, a unit will be $10. For others, a unit will be $1,000.
If your unit size is $100 and you bet 1.5 units on the Cowboys to cover the spread against the Eagles, that means you are betting $150 on the Cowboys to cover the spread.
Taking the points
When you are taking the points, that means you are betting on the point spread underdog to cover the spread against the spread betting favorite.
Using the above example of a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, if you take the points on the Eagles, that means you are betting on the Eagles to either win outright or lose by four or fewer points.
Types of NFL Bets
NFL Game Bets
If you are betting on NFL games, there are several ways you can do so. Here’s a look at the kinds of NFL betting opportunities available at most sports betting sites.
Point Spread Bets
NFL point spread betting is one of the most popular ways to bet on National Football League games each week.
When betting on NFL point spreads, you are betting on favorites to win by at least a certain number of points or underdogs to either win outright or lose by fewer than a certain number of points.
For example, in Super Bowl 58 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, the 49ers were favored by 2.5 points when Super Bowl spread odds were first released.
That means that San Francisco (-2.5) would have needed to win by three or more points to cover the spread, while the Chiefs (+2.5) would have needed to either win outright or lose by one or two points to cover the spread.
In the end, Kansas City won 25-22 in overtime. Therefore, the Chiefs covered the +2.5, while the 49ers did not cover the -2.5 because they lost.
One extremely important thing to remember with NFL betting spreads is that they can fluctuate significantly as kickoff approaches due to injury news or because of the bets that are coming in.
Moneyline Bets
As with NFL spread betting, betting on NFL moneylines involves wagering on the outcome.
But while spread betting requires a specific minimum outcome, NFL moneyline betting is down to who comes out on top and who comes out on the short end.
Had the 49ers defeated the Chiefs by one point in Super Bowl 58, Super Bowl spread bettors who wagered on San Francisco would have lost, but Super Bowl moneyline bets on the Niners would have been victorious because San Francisco would have still won outright.
Total (a.k.a. Over/Under) Bets
Betting on NFL point spreads and moneylines involves betting on some part of the outcome, but NFL total betting, which is also known as NFL over/under betting, involves betting on how many points are scored regardless of the outcome.
Most NFL totals are in the 40s or low 50s, though totals can sometimes fall below 40 or above 55, depending on the teams involved in the matchup or other factors like weather or injuries.
Over/under betting mostly refers to betting on the total for NFL games, but as with moneyline and spread betting, it can also be for quarters and halves. Also, many NFL player props are over/under bets.
NFL Prop Betting – Player Props, Team, and Game Props
Betting on NFL sides and totals will always be popular, but betting on NFL props is increasingly popular.
Sports betting sites like BetOnline and Bovada offer a lot of NFL player prop odds for every game, and there are a lot of NFL game and team props as well.
Some examples of NFL props include passing props (e.g., over/under passing yards, over/under touchdown passes, over/under pass completions), first and anytime touchdown scorer odds, and first scoring play odds.
The Super Bowl is an extremely popular event for prop bets. Because of the scale of the event and how many casual bettors it draws in, Super Bowl prop options tend to include markets that you don’t see for other games.
NFL Live Betting
With modern technology providing bettors with the opportunity to bet from anywhere and at any time, live betting has become an extremely popular way to bet on many sports and competitions, including the NFL.
Being able to bet on the action while it is going on opens the opportunity to find value that may not have been there before the game.
Parlays, Teasers, and Same-Game Parlays (SGPs)
Parlays, teasers, and same-game parlays (also known as SGPs) are ways to bet on multiple NFL betting lines within the same bet.
Teasers and parlays are similar in that they are both combination bets. But whereas parlays may include a variety of options (moneylines, spreads, totals, or props), teasers only involve point spreads or totals. Also, they are offered at altered numbers and come with lower combined odds.
Same-game parlays are parlays that consist of odds from the same event. For example, an NFL same-game parlay could consist of a moneyline play, a total play, and a prop play.
Other Types of NFL Bets
NFL Futures
All the above types of bets are ways you can bet on NFL games. But throughout the year, even in the offseason, you can make a wide variety of NFL futures bets at sports betting sites. Futures bets are bets on markets that will not be decided until a later date. That can be the next week, the next month, or the next year.
Some NFL futures betting markets include Super Bowl winner odds, NFL division winner odds (like AFC West winner odds or NFC East winner odds), NFL award odds like NFL Offensive & Defensive Player of the Year, and NFL Draft odds.
Betting on the Super Bowl
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most important days on the annual sports and entertainment calendar.
Viewers watch and follow the Super Bowl around the world, and in the United States, over 100 million people tune in to the game every year, no matter who is playing in it.
It is a major social event, as many people like to show their friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues that they know how to throw the best Super Bowl party.
It is also a major betting occasion. Both sports bettors and sportsbooks look forward to the game. It draws in a lot of bets from people who bet either infrequently or only on Super Bowl Sunday.
Check Out Our Super Bowl Betting Guide
Each year, we cover the Super Bowl comprehensively. Our Super Bowl betting guide covers the many types of Super Bowl bets you can make at sports betting sites like BetOnline, Bovada, MyBookie, and Sportsbetting.ag.
Types of Super Bowl Bets
When betting on the Super Bowl, you can make the same bets you can make on other NFL games. But Super Bowl spread bets and Super Bowl over/under bets are only some of the Super Bowl betting options many sports betting sites offer. The unique and frivolous Super Bowl bets are a big reason new and infrequent bettors love to get involved.
In addition to those bets and other options like Super Bowl first score odds, Super Bowl touchdown scorer odds, and a long list of Super Bowl player props, here are some of the unique bets available for Super Bowl Sunday:
- Super Bowl Coin Toss Odds: The coin toss is a key part of every football game, from high school to college football, to the NFL. But no heads or tails is as important as the Super Bowl coin toss.
- Super Bowl National Anthem Odds: You can place over/under bets on how long the anthem performance will be. Some sportsbooks also offer odds if the Super Bowl anthem performer will forget a word or which player, coach, or celebrity will be shown during the performance.
- Super Bowl Halftime Show Odds: The Super Bowl halftime show always bring significant hype and excitement. For many who watch the Super Bowl, it is the main event. You can bet on which songs will be performed, as well as the performer’s attire, who the guest performers will be, and much more.
- Super Bowl Gatorade Color Odds: When the game ends and the Super Bowl champion is crowned, the winning Super Bowl coach is showered in America’s favorite sports drink. In fact, the drama of finding out the winning Gatorade color can be more thrilling than the end of the game itself, as countless bets hang on the outcome.
Factors to Consider When Betting on the NFL
Team and Player Performance Trends
A big part of becoming adept at knowing where to pick your spots as an NFL bettor is keeping up with noteworthy team and player performance trends.
For example, if a running back has recorded multiple 100-yard games in a row and is about to face one of the NFL’s worst run defenses, that may be a spot to take the over on that running back’s rushing yards prop.
Or if a team has been struggling defensively against the pass and is going on the road to face one of the best quarterbacks and passing attacks in the NFL, that may be a spot to fade that team.
Historical trends or betting-specific trends are also worth taking of note in the right spots. For example, a team having a poor record as a point spread favorite in primetime games can be a good spot to fade that team, even if they are one of the better teams in the NFL.
Injuries and Suspensions
No team is going to make it through the NFL season without dealing with some level of injury concerns, and some teams are unfortunate to lose extremely important players.
For example, in the 2023 NFL season, four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles in the first quarter of his first game with the New York Jets.
As a result, his season ended after only one pass attempt, and the Jets went on to finish 7-10, the fourth-worst record in the AFC.
Injuries often significantly impact NFL betting. That impact does not involve just season-ending injuries, either.
If a player suffers an injury in a Sunday afternoon game and his team’s next game is the upcoming Thursday Night Football matchup, he may not have enough recovery time to be available or perform at his best even if he is available.
Sometimes teams will wait to announce injury availability or unavailability for strategic reasons if it is surrounding very important personnel, even if a team already knows that a player is or is not going to play.
In situations like that, some bettors may opt to either wait to place their bets until after a definitive injury update, while others may bet early in the week then hedge or middle their bets later in the week to either mitigate potential losses or take advantage of a value opportunity to come out ahead.
Weather Conditions
Betting on the NFL often means having to care about the weather forecast of cities you don’t live in or may not know much about otherwise.
If you like to make NFL over/under bets, weather can be a big factor.
If snow, rain, or heavy wind is taking place, teams will be less inclined to throw the ball. So, if one team’s offensive gameplan is centered around passing and running the ball is not a strength, and they are going up against a team that is great at stopping the run, you may be inclined to back the latter team to cover the spread or win the game outright, depending on the odds.
Homefield Advantage
Every team does not excel at home, and some teams can lay an egg at home in unexpected situations. Overall, however, homefield advantage is often valuable for NFL teams.
Therefore, bettors should look out for notable betting trends and follow NFL standings to help determine which NFL game lines they should target.
Travel Fatigue
Scheduling may be different across different sports and competitions, but travel fatigue is a universal thing, whether it’s the NFL, NBA, NHL, and even MLB.
During the NFL season, teams can face a situation where there is a quick turnaround from one game to the next.
For example, in Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, September 22, in a matchup scheduled for 4:25 pm ET (3:25 pm local time). Four days later, the Cowboys will visit the New York Giants in Week 4’s Thursday Night Football matchup, which is scheduled for 8:15 pm ET. That means that there may be around 96 hours between the end of Dallas’s game against the Ravens and the start of their game against the Giants.
Keeping a close eye on the schedule is important because of the NFL’s flex scheduling. What is flex scheduling? Flex scheduling allows the NFL to move games around to ensure that attractive and important matchups get the spotlight they should.
Flex scheduling especially comes into play later in the season, when there are numerous potentially pivotal games on the schedule. The effects of travel fatigue may be more pronounced at that juncture given the toll that the season takes on bodies and depth charts.
So, when late November and December roll around, we recommend keeping a close eye on the NFL schedule to identify possible spots to take advantage of.
NFL Betting Strategies and Tips
Stay on Top of NFL Trends, Stats, and Standings
No matter what you are betting on, it is important to do your research and stay on top of key information.
You don’t have to know a sport from top to bottom to be able to bet on it, but good research helps with making the most informed betting decisions possible.
When it comes to NFL betting research, keeping up with the latest stats, results, standings, and injury/personnel news is extremely helpful.
For example, perhaps a team’s offense has recently struggled without its starting running back, who has missed the last three games with a wrist injury. However, he looks slated to return just in time for a matchup against one of the league’s worst run defenses. With that information in mind, you may bet on that player’s rushing yards props or bet on him and his team to cover the spread.
Shop for the Best NFL Betting Lines
There are many great NFL betting sites out there, and a lot of bettors like to use multiple sportsbooks to bet on football.
Using multiple sportsbooks and/or odds comparison resources (such as our NFL odds page) helps with finding the best value for your bets.
Whether there is a small difference or a major discrepancy between the odds offered for a particular bet at one sportsbook and the odds offered for that bet at another sportsbook, getting the best value can benefit your bankroll in both the short term and long term.
If one sportsbook has moneyline odds of +150 for the Cincinnati Bengals to defeat the Baltimore Ravens on the road and a different sportsbook has +180 moneyline odds for the Bengals to defeat the Ravens, the +180 odds are the best move. If you bet $100 on +150 and $100 on +180, a winning bet on will give you $30 more with +180 than if you bet the +150 odds.
Even if the difference is not that significant, it will still add up over time to prioritize finding the best NFL betting value.
Should You Bet Early or Late?
Because of how infrequently NFL teams play relative to MLB, the NBA, and the NHL, bettors have more time between games to figure out their bets. And even before one week of NFL action is in the books, odds are already out for the following week’s games.
But should you lock in your bets early? Or is it better to wait until closer to kickoff time?
Over the course of a week, a lot of line movement may take place, especially if injuries are a factor. If the injury status of a key player or a few key players is up in the air and won’t be certain until late in the week, it may be worthwhile to hold off on locking any bets in until the news is definitive one way or the other.
Some bettors like to bet on early NFL odds, then, depending on the line movement, make another bet later in the week, either on the same side or as a hedge. Hedging your bets or middling your bets in the right spots can help you mitigate your potential losses or even come out ahead, depending on what you are betting on.
Consider Fading the NFL Betting Public
When betting on NFL games, it can be helpful to know how the betting public is wagering.
Why? If a large percentage of the NFL public bets are on a particular wager, that can often be an indication that betting the opposite way is the move to make. If more bets are on one side but more money is being wagered on the other side, that typically means that the public is on one side and professional bettors, also known as “sharps,” are on the other side.
There are instances where a big bet or a few big bets can skew things and not paint a proper picture of how the action is breaking down. However, that’s less likely to be the case when it comes to the NFL. Even the worst games still attract a lot of betting interest, so a few big bets aren’t going to result in a change in percentages like there might be if it was a Wednesday afternoon MLB game, for example.
This is not at all a strategy to overuse or follow blindly, of course. Only fade the public in spots where it makes sense to and when it is backed up by your own research and confidence.
NFL Betting Resources
NFL Betting Picks
When deciding which bets to make, it can help to see how trusted sources are betting or leaning.
Our NFL picks page features NFL moneyline picks, NFL point spread picks, and NFL total picks from numerous trusted sports betting industry sources for every game on the NFL schedule. Those picks are aggregated and then matched up with odds from top sports betting sites to come up with a recommended moneyline, spread, and total pick for each matchup.
There are many other great sources out there that provide free or premium NFL betting picks each week.
The sports betting space is vast, so we suggest checking our list of the best follows on gambling Twitter, as well as our recommendations for the best places to buy premium sports picks.
It perhaps goes without saying, but don’t blindly tail anyone’s picks, even the ones you will find at Betting News. They should be just part of your NFL betting research, and your choices should be made based on that research and what you feel.
NFL Betting Odds
For many NFL bettors, finding the best value is a high priority. Many sports betting sites will offer similar odds, but you can find an extra edge by shopping around for the best odds.
Our NFL odds page helps streamline that process, at least for NFL moneyline odds, NFL point spread odds, and NFL total odds for each game. We collect the odds from several of the best NFL betting sites and put them all in one place so you can compare odds without having to manually look at each sportsbook individually.
With the time that this saves you, you can focus on mastering your grilling game or becoming the best cornhole player in the tri-state area.
NFL Stats
Keeping up with the latest NFL stats will help you stay on top of important team and player performance trends, and it can help you with determining who you should eye for your weekly NFL player prop bets.
There are many great resources for NFL stats, including the league’s official website.
Other NFL Betting Information
Other NFL Content by Betting News
Our NFL betting guide covers some of the basic information that you need to know if you will be betting on the NFL this season.
Because the NFL is so popular, we churn out a wealth of NFL content over the course of the year, both during the season and in the offseason.
Do you find our NFL betting guide useful? Check out some of our other NFL content, and bookmark Betting News so you don’t miss out on any of what is in store.
Our NFL betting guide is just one of many sports betting guides you can find at Betting News. If you would like to learn a type of bet, how to bet on a sport, league, or event, or understand a betting strategy, we cover a lot of sports betting basics with our guides.
- NBA Betting Guide
- NHL Betting Guide
- College Football Betting Guide
- NASCAR Betting Guide
- WNBA Betting Guide
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