Americans always dig deep into their pockets to bet on the NFL. Last year, more than half the country wagered during Super Bowl LV. This amounted to over $4.3 billion, a new betting record for the big game.
Now, you don’t need to wait for the Super Bowl to bet on football. Every NFL match is an opportunity to make money. While you could have fun picking the winners, this article delves into unique, rare and somehow weird things you could bet on in the NFL.
#1: Bet on the Final Half of a Game
So, you think the Chiefs always perform better during the second half? Place a bet backing Kansas to outperform its opponent in the second half of a match. You can pick the usual money line bet. Or you can spice up things with a spread bet.
A spread bet involves predicting the margin of victory in a game. It could be half a point to as much as +50 points when team US basketball faces unfairly weak opponents in international games.
That being said, betting on the second half or even a specific quarter is easier said than done. You need in-depth analysis to know which team will perform better in the second half. Of course, shop around for NFL odds to bet where you can get the highest returns for your money.
#2: NFL Specials
If you need a betting challenge, consider trying out NFL specials. Every betting site offers these bets. Basically, specials are unique, highly unpredictable occurrences in football. Below are a few examples:
- Regular season MVP
- Best team in the regular season
- Coach of the year
- Most passing yards
- Worst Record
- Offensive/defensive player of the year
NFL specials attract competitive odds. If you’re confident which team will have the best record or which player completes the most rushing yard, place a bet. You could win up to ten times your bet.
#3: Prop Bets
NFL specials can be hard to predict but not as much as prop bets. With propositions, you’re predicting something entirely random. For example, you can bet on the color of jeans a musician will have during the Super Bowl half-time show.
Props come in many types. There are props centered on players. Then there are Yes/No questions and props the game or factors outside of football. All the same, the goal of these bets is to take a guess. And if you’re correct, you get paid.
According to many experts, props are not the best football bets. You can predict whether a game will end in over time if you have a gut feeling about it. But generally, you should stick to mainstream predictions like match winners.
#4: Place a Live Bet
Live betting is a relatively new way of predicting sports. It takes place at online sportsbooks. It’s exciting, rewarding and highly risky. Essentially, you bet after a match has begun. You can bet up to the last minute.
The main benefit of live betting is that odds change constantly. This means you can get much better lines at some point during the game than before it started. It also means sportsbooks don’t have much time to think about the odds, which can lead to biases.
The best way to capitalize on live betting is by watching football games. That way, you can have fun enjoying the game on TV while also trying to predict which team scores the next touchdown on a betting app.
#5: Predict Division Winners
There are eight divisions in the NFL. Can you predict which teams will lead each division at the end of the regular season? Usually, rankings start to take shape after the first eight weeks. So far, most teams have played at least 14 games, making it a bit late to predict the division leaders.
In the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills and the Patriots are favorites to finish first. Both have a 9-6 record at the end of December. In the AFC West, no team can overtake the Chiefs at this point. Likewise, the Cowboys, Rams, Packers and Buccaneers are firmly on the lead with two games to go.
Although you can still pick division winners, the odds are unattractive. Don’t give up, though. You can still bet on the wild card and the division round. Then there’s the Conference champions and the pro bowl.
#6: Bet on the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the biggest single-day event in the US. More than 100 million Americans turn on their TVs to watch the game. On February 13, the 56th Super Bowl will take place at the SoFi stadium in Los Angeles.
As we mentioned earlier, people break the bank to bet on the Super Bowl. High rollers wager up to $1M on the big game. Of course, you don’t need to overspend. In fact, it’s recommended to risk an amount you can afford to lose.
That being said, there are plenty of things to predict during the Super Bowl. There’s the obvious—who takes the Lombardi trophy home? Then there’s everything else, from totals to props.
For some reason, proposition bets tend to dominate Super Bowl bets. People are always trying to predict random things. You can predict the hair, clothes and shoes worn by half-time performers. You can predict which coach appears on broadcast first or how many touchdowns a quarterback score.
#7: Parlays
Parlays provide the ultimate way to test your expertise in predicting football games. Ideally, the goal is to predict multiple matches. However, you combine them in one betting slip. The benefit is that the odds increase significantly. The risk is that you lose the entire bet if you’re wrong in one prediction.
Parlays are difficult to win because there’s always the risk of losing one or more predictions. But if you’re confident in two or more teams, you can place the bet. Some betting sites even offer bonus boosters to increase your parlay bets 10x if you win the entire bet. Others provide an early cashout to withdraw a portion of your profits before the final game.
