American Football & NFL Betting

While soccer may be the biggest sport worldwide, American football, and particularly the NFL, runs a close race for that slot. The NFL or National Football League, is the pinnacle organisation for the game, with 32 teams divided into two conferences of 16 teams each, spread throughout the nation.

Every year, millions of bettors around the world bet on American football, which includes the NFL as well as the NCAA or college football. Whether you are new to sports betting online or an old hand, getting into American football NFL betting is both easy and potentially, very rewarding.

Our easy to follow guide to American football NFL and NCAA betting will prepare you for betting at American football betting sites, both in pre-match markets as well as live (In-Play) markets. American football is extremely popular and, although initially fairly complicated, provides plenty of betting action once you get the hang of it.

American Football NFL Quick-Facts

• National Football League (NFL) consists of 32 teams divided into 2 conferences of 16 teams each.
• Aside from NFL, you can also find plenty of betting action in college football or NCAA Football.
• American football betting odds are available for pre-match and live betting markets.
• There are numerous betting options available including Moneyline, Over/Under and Props betting.
• You’ll find plenty of game-enhancing promotions in American football.

American Football – Basic Rules of the Game

American football is a ball contest between two opposing teams, with the idea that each of them must score against the other. This can be accomplished by running the ball into the in zone for a touchdown (worth 6 points), or by kicking the ball over vertical goal posts for a field goal (worth 3 points).

Despite how it appears on the surface, American football is quite an easy game to follow, with simple and straightforward rules.

• The team in possession of the ball is the offensive team and must try to move the ball up the field of play.
• They are given a set of 4 attempts to move the ball 10 yards
• If they succeed in moving the ball 10 yards, they are given another set of 4 attempts to move the ball another 10 yards
• If they fail to move the ball the required 10 yards, the ball is then handed over to the other team

In American football, there are essentially two sets of players per team, an offensive set or team, and a defensive team. When a team has possession of the ball, their offensive team is on the field and in play. However, the team that is not in possession of the ball have their defensive team on the field of play. Each side will send on one of their two teams based on when they have possession of the ball and when they don’t, throughout the game.

To play the game, an offensive team will line up against a defensive team. A member of the offensive team will then snap the ball back to the quarterbackwho will then throw it to a receiveron the field. The quarterback makes the play based on where the receivers are positioned on the field.

If the defensive team manage to break the line of the offensive team and tackle or intercept the quarterback before he manages to throw, this is known as a sacking.

The game is divided into 4 quarters, each 15 minutes in duration. At the end of the 4 quarters, if the scores are level, the game will go into overtime until a winner is determined, usually the first to score. This is why 2-way bets work well in American football as there is no draw bet option.

American Football Betting Explained

American football NFL betting is fairly basic, with the majority based around two way betting types. This makes it fairly easy for beginners to quickly get into the meat of American football betting tips. One of the most popular betting options in American football is the outright winner or match bet. This is one of the easiest bets that you can make since all you have to do is decide who you think will win the game.

This is similar to a 3-way bet in soccer, the 1 X 2 bet, except without the X (draw). In other words, you decide to place you bet on (1) Home win, or (2) Away win. It is also worth noting that the match bet will include overtime if the game ends in a draw during regular time.

Handicap betting is also very popular in American football NFL betting. These types of bets are especially prevalent in games where the one team is considerably weaker than the other team, or is near the bottom of the table. Betting providers will handicap the favourites by a points margin, in order to make it a more interesting bet for the underdog.

Final Thoughts on Football NFL Betting

American football NFL betting may at first seem very complicated. However, once you understand the basics of how the game is played and how points are scored, it becomes very easy to bet on. Most bets are simple 2-way type bets such as Over/Under bets, Favourite/Underdog, handicaps and outright winners. This makes NFL betting very easy to get into for novice bettors as well.