NFL Betting outside the US

With the rising popularity of the NFL in Europe, the online betting opportunities are fast on the rise as well. The first thing to understand however is the set-up of the NFL.

The league consists of two conferences of 16 teams each; the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each has four divisions of four teams, according to the cardinal compass points. Teams that win the divisions go into the playoffs at the end of the season while the winners of the two conferences face off in the Superbowl.

Season-long Bets

These are bets which will only come to fruition at the very end of the NFL season. They are mostly to do with backing a team to win, whether it is the grand winner of the Superbowl, or the winner of one of the conferences, or of the divisions. Because of the draft system used by the NFL, each team has (in theory) equal chances. A favorite bet among punters is a multiple bet that picks winners of several of the divisions.

Individual Game Bets

There may be up to sixteen games taking place on any given game weekend. Games that are televised tend to have more gambling markets.

A bet on which team is going to win the game is known as the Money line. Moving beyond this, we have the most popular bet which is betting on the spread. This is based on the total points of both teams being either above or under a figure worked out by the bookies.

As the NFL season climaxes during the playoffs and Superbowl, special bets pop up. Bets have been known to be placed during ad breaks and during the halftime show.

With the increasing popularity and growth of NFL games in Europe and outside the US, the time is ripe to join in on the NFL online betting scene.