Legal NFL Sports Betting

Sports betting has been on the rise in the US ever since PASPA was overturned in 2018. With so many states legalizing it, it’s no surprise that Americans collectively wagered $119.84 billion in 2023, which is more than a 27% increase from 2022. The biggest portion of that is from NFL betting, as it’s the most popular sport to bet on in the US.

However, not just any form, but legal NFL betting, which is precisely what we are going to cover today. You’ll learn how and where you can legally bet on the NFL and how it works. Without further ado, let’s jump right in.

Where Is NFL Betting Legal?

NFL betting is legal in every state where sports betting is legal, as no laws govern which specific league you can bet on. There are some nuances when it comes to college sports, but this doesn’t concern us at the moment.

As of July 2024, 38 states have legalized some form of sports betting, plus Washington, D.C. Out of these:

• Eight states only have retail sports betting, including Washington, Montana, South and North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Mississippi.
• Two states only have online sports betting, including Tennessee and Vermont.
• Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized both retail and online sports betting.

The remaining 12 states have no form of legal sports betting. These are Alaska, Hawaii, California, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

It’s worth noting that four of these (Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, and Missouri) have some movements in the legal sphere. Missouri has even placed the legality of sports betting on the ballot for November 2024.

What Can I Do if NFL Betting is Not Legal in My State?

So, what can you do if you live in one of the 12 states where no form of sports betting, and consequently NFL betting, is available?

The first thing that comes to mind of many bettors is offshore gambling sites that cater to Americans. However, we don’t recommend this as it can be dangerous. Plus, since the law in the US can’t affect these sites, it can’t protect you if you run into problems.

The only remaining thing is daily fantasy sports (DFS). DFS sites are available in most states if the practice is legal. Only Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington don’t have legal DFS.

There are some nuances to this, like whether traditional DFS or Pick’em is legal or both, but as long as you’re in a state not on this list, some form of DFS will be available to you, including popular DFS platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel.

How Do I Legally Start Betting on the NFL?

To start betting legally, you must create an account on a licensed sports betting site in your state. Every licensed online sportsbook must display its license, usually on the site’s footer.

More than that, if it’s legal in your state, it will allow you to create an account, as all legal sports betting sites have geolocation services and won’t allow you to register and verify your account if you come from a state that hasn’t legalized online sports betting or the site isn’t available.

Some examples of legal sports betting sites are Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, bet365, Bally, BetRivers, Golden Nugget, Betway, and Barstool.

Once you’ve chosen one, here’s what you need to do to start betting:

1. Visit the official website for the sportsbook you’ve chosen. You might need to select your state, or the site will automatically take you to its subdomain. You can also download the sportsbook app if you want to do it on the phone.
2. Click on Register/Sign Up/Join to begin the registration procedure.
3. Provide the necessary personal details. Ensure they are correct and your own.
4. Verify your account. You’ll likely have to provide the last four digits of your social security number and input the code sent to your phone number.
5. Make a deposit and claim the welcome bonus. Once your account is ready, you can visit the deposit page. Choose the method and input the amount. Ensure it’s enough to claim the welcome bonus, as most platforms have a deposit-based signup offer. Provide the payment data and complete the transfer.
6. Start placing bets! The funds and the bonus should appear in your account immediately, after which you can start betting. Visit the sports betting section, find the NFL, pick a game, and place your bet.

Basic Terminology for Betting on Football

If you’re unfamiliar, let’s touch upon some basic terminology you’ll run into while betting on football (we won’t cover the names of bets, as that will follow later):

• Odds — They tell you how much money you can win from a bet and are shown with “+” and “-“ signs, the former for underdogs and the latter for the favorites. They are also called the betting line or simply the line.
• Push — A push is a tie, but it also indicates the situation when your bet is not a winner nor a loser, while the stake is returned to you.
• Vig — Also called the juice, it represents the commission you pay to the sports betting site for placing your wager. It’s accounted for in the odds.
• Handle — The amount of money wagered on an event or in total for a specific period. It’s often used to show the monthly amount wagered within a specific sports betting site.
• Dime — A $1,000 bet. A $500 bet on the hand is called a nickel.
• Bad beat — This is an otherwise winner bet that’s lost in the last minute.
• Against the spread (ATS) — This means you’re betting against the spread or placing a point spread bet. If you win the bet, it means you’ve covered the spread. It’s also used to show a team’s record, so a 9–5 ATS means they’ve covered the spread nine times and failed to do so five times.
• No action — A canceled bet (you get your money back).
• Chalk — The favored team.
• Dog — Short for underdog.
• Off the Board (OTB) — A game you can’t currently bet on.

Understanding the Odds

The odds are the biggest part of NFL betting or any other form of sports betting. They indicate the chances of the event occurring and the bet’s risk and win amounts. There are several ways of displaying them, and in the US, we use the moneyline format. You need to understand two things about it:

• The minus (-) sign indicates the favorite and how much you have to risk to win $100.
• The plus (+) sign denotes the underdog and the amount you’ll win if you stake $100.

To explain this fully, let’s use some examples. Consider a game between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Here’s how a standard moneyline bet will look on a sports betting site:

• BAL Ravens   +130
• KC Chiefs       -155

The plus and minus odds tell us that the Chiefs are the favorites while the Ravens are the underdogs, meaning a bet on the Chiefs is more likely to happen.

So, going with our previous definition, if you bet on the Chiefs, you’ll need to bet $155 to win $100, while the total payout would be $255. This is the likelier outcome, hence the minus odds.

On the other hand, if you were to back the Ravens to win with a $100 stake, you’d win $130 or a total payout of $230.

Lastly, if you stake $100 in both cases, the payout from the Chiefs bet would be $64.52, and the Ravens bet would yield $130.

Naturally, you won’t have to do these calculations on your own, as the sports betting site will always show you the payout as soon as you add the selection to the betting slip and input the stake.

And if you sometimes find the odds confusing, like when both options have minus odds, which is common with point spreads or totals, you can always enter both selections to the bet slip and input the same stake, like $100. The selection that offers the bigger payout is less likely to happen.

So, for example, let’s consider a $100 total bet for the same game:

• Over 46.5 – 108
• Under 46.5 – 112

Betting over will lead to a $192.59 payout, and betting under will yield you $189.28.

Choosing Your Bet

We already mentioned moneylines and totals, but betting on the NFL can come in several forms. Let’s cover the most popular bet types and forms of betting.

Moneyline

Moneyline bets are the simplest — you can bet on one team to win the game. It’s the basic form of NFL betting and arguably the most popular bet type bettors use.

You usually have the favorite and the underdog, with the former coming with minus odds and the latter plus odds, just like we‘ve explained in our Ravens vs Chiefs example.

Point Spread

As much as moneylines are the most popular overall, point spread bets are the most popular type football bettors use. The point spread tells you how many points the favorite must win for the bet to pass. It also means that it tells you how much the underdog can lose if you decide to bet on them.

For instance, consider that same game between the Ravens and the Chiefs. If the spread is 3 points, the favorites, the Chiefs, get a -3 to their score, while the Ravens get a +3. The Chiefs cover the spread if they win by at least a 3-point difference, while the Ravens can either win or lose by no more than 2 points to cover the spread.

Totals (Over/Under)

Totals or over/under bets allow you to bet on the total point score going over or under a given number.

In our Ravens vs. Chiefs example, with the over/under point total of 46.5, you can either bet on the point total going over, meaning the duo must collectively score 47 points or more, or under, where the total cannot surpass 46. The 0.5 is there to prevent a push.

Props

Proposition bets, or props, are highly specific bets that focus on the performance of the teams or the players.

For example, you might bet on Lamar Jackson’s pass TDs going over or under 1.5, or at least one of the two teams scoring 30+ points. The exact selection of props differs from site to site and game to game, but you usually get over a hundred options, so there’s plenty to bet on.

Parlays

Parlays are bets with two or more selections. In other words, instead of betting on the Chiefs winning the game against the Ravens, you might also bet on the Packers winning against the Eagles.

Instead of placing two bets, you place a single one with the two selections, and you have to win both to win the parlay. However, the benefit is that the odds are multiplied, so the payout is bigger.

With the odds on the Ravens being -155 and on the Packers +120, two singles of $100 each will yield a payout of $384.51, while your winnings will be only $184.51. On the other hand, if you place a $200 parlay with the two selections, the payout will be $723.87, or $523.87 in winnings only.

Same-Game Parlays

As the name suggests, same-game parlays or SGPs are parlays with selections from the same game. For instance, you might want to bet on the Chiefs winning against the Ravens, but you also want to bet on the point total being over 46.5.

Bear in mind that SGPs are not always allowed, so you might not be able to create any form of SGP bet you please. Once you add the selections to the slip, the system will tell you if that combo is allowed.

Futures

We’ve only been talking about game-specific bets by this point. However, there’s also a different type called futures. These bets let you predict bigger outcomes over longer periods. For instance, you can bet on who’ll win the AFC Conference or AFC East. You can also bet on a team to win the Super Bowl.

These are the more straightforward futures, but you’ll also find bets like which team will be the number 1 seed or the wildcard seed, the player to get the MVP award or the coach to become the Coach of the Year.

Live/In-Game Betting

Live or in-game betting lets you place wagers on games in progress. It’s different from regular NFL betting, though it still uses most of the same bet types. The key is to place bets while the game is active.

Some bets in live betting are immediate, like predicting if a touchdown will happen within minutes. This adds flexibility to live betting, which many bettors enjoy.

Live betting is more advanced and needs quick thinking and knowledge. Odds change every few seconds or with significant plays. You can’t rely only on odds; intuition and experience are essential.

Facts About the NFL

The National Football League (NFL) is the leading pro football league in the US. It started in 1920 and currently hosts 32 teams playing in the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football Conference (AFC), each divided into four divisions.

The NFL is an annual competition, with each season starting with a three-week preseason period, followed by the regular season that lasts for 18 weeks, typically from early September to early January. Each team gets to play a game per week, with one bye week.

Once the regular season ends, out of 16 teams per conference, seven get to go to the playoffs — four division winners and three wild card teams. The playoffs determine the conference champions who get to play against each other in the Super Bowl, which determines the NFL champion for the season.

Culminating in the 2023 season, the Green Bay Packers hold the record for most NFL championship titles (13). They are followed by the Chicago Bears (9) and New York Giants (8). However, if we look at only the Super Bowl era, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers lead the all-time rankings with six wins each, followed by the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers with five each.

Out of the currently playing teams, as many as nine have never won a title, while 12 haven’t won the Super Bowl, with four never even reaching the finals. So far, 20 teams have won the Super Bowl. Interestingly, when looking at the whole NFL history, the New York Giants have the most appearances in the finals (22).

FAQs about legal NFL Sports Betting