Football Betting Guide - NFL Betting Tips For 2024

by Thomas Casale (tcasale) Last Updated 2024-11-21T21:21:50

NFL football is the most popular sport to wager on in the United States. With a steady stream of states legalizing online sports betting in the US, betting on NFL games has reached unprecedented levels.

Football bettors can wager on NFL games in a variety of ways. Some of the most popular betting options for pro football games include point spread, Moneyline, teasers, parlays (including same-game parlays), and futures wagering. These NFL betting tips will walk you through all the wagering options, and terminology and guide you through placing your first NFL sports bet. We’ll also provide tips for more experienced NFL bettors to help you make sharper NFL predictions this year.

On top of that, our analysts provide free NFL picks every week, which we’ll link to here.

Even if you aren’t in a state with legal sports betting, you can still get in on the football action by picking NFL props on PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy. Our PrizePicks promo code and Underdog Fantasy promo code will give you bonuses to make NFL picks this football season. If you’re not in a legal betting state, you can find more apps like PrizePicks

NFL Football Betting Odds and Tips

Our custom NFL odds tracker updates the odds on all NFL games in real-time. It allows you to compare all the sportsbooks to ensure you find the best value when researching NFL game lines. Betting lines change very quickly, so if you find a number you like, it’s important to get it locked in right away. This tracker is your guide to getting the most value for your NFL bets.

Odds to Win the 2024 Super Bowl

Check out the top teams favored to win the Super Bowl. Odds courtesy of our friends at Caesars Sportsbook. This table will be updated regularly, so be sure to check back for the latest odds.

Odds to Win 2023 NFL MVP

Here are the top players favored to win the 2023 NFL MVP award. Remember that the MVP is for regular season performance only, so a top player in the playoffs may not win MVP. Odds are provided by BetMGM and will be regularly updated.

Best Sportsbooks for NFL Betting

There are dozens of sportsbooks currently operating in the United States. Colorado and New Jersey lead the way with over two dozen sportsbooks operating in their states. Many sportsbooks operate in multiple states, while others prefer a more limited approach, picking one or just a few states to focus on.

Each sportsbook is different. Some offer a great rewards program, some have more prop bets available than the competition, while others offer reduced odds for high-profile events. These differences are great for bettors, especially when it comes to betting on the NFL. Winning bets on NFL games is tougher than other sports because the sportsbooks dedicate more effort to research and analysis to their NFL lines than any other sport, which reduces the chances of a mis-priced line that can be exploited. NFL lines may be efficient, but sportsbooks also offer the lowest vigs and best promotions during the NFL season in order to compete for your business.

RotoGrinders has reviewed just about all the major sportsbooks operating in the US, exploring every aspect of their operation, from promotions to customer service to pricing to banking options. Check out our best NFL betting apps ahead of the 2024 season kicking off.

NFL Football Betting Odds Explained

Before looking into the different types of NFL bets, we must first understand what the NFL odds mean. Next to every NFL bet is a number with a plus (+) sign or a minus (-) sign next to them. This number will determine the final payout on winning bets. A plus sign next to the bet indicates an underdog, and a minus symbol will be next to the favorite. Check out this screenshot for an example of how an NFL game would look on a sportsbook app.

Types of NFL Football Bets

• Point Spread
• Moneyline
• Totals (Over/Under)
• Teasers
• Parlays (including same-game parlays)
• Live/in-game
• Futures
• Props

NFL Football Point Spread Betting

The most popular way to bet on football is taking a team against the spread (ATS). This involves making a wager on either the favorite or underdog to cover the point spread. The point spread is how much the better team (favorite) is projected to beat the weaker team (underdog) for the bet to win.

Using the above screenshot as an example, the Buffalo Bills are -2.5 over the Los Angeles Rams. The Bills are the favorites, and the Rams are the underdogs. If you bet on the Rams, they must win the game by three or more points. If you bet on the Rams, they must lose by two or fewer points or win the game outright.

You’re right, there are no half-points in football. The line is 2.5 in order to eliminate ties. The Bills will either win by 3 or more or they won’t. If the line were 3 and the Bills won by 3, the bet would be a push and bettors would get their original bets refunded.

The vig, or juice, is the amount charged by a sportsbook for taking the bet. That means it doesn’t matter which team you pick, since the vig is -110 the sportsbook is taking a 10% cut of the action. Bettors must wager $1.10 to win a buck. A $110 bet pays $100. The typical vig on an NFL wager is -110, but it can vary depending on the online sportsbook.

NFL Football Moneyline Betting

Betting the moneyline means you are wagering on the team to win the game outright with no point spread involved. Moneyline prices vary depending on the point spread. The higher the point spread, the more money you have to wager on the favorite and the bigger return on the underdog.

Using the above example, the Bills are a -135 favorite “on the moneyline,” so you would have to risk $135 to win $100. The Rams are +115 on the moneyline, which means a $100 bet wins $115. Sometimes people will bet the moneyline on an underdog they think has a chance to win outright because the payout is higher than taking that team on a straight bet with the point spread.

NFL Football Totals (Over/Under) Betting

Another way to wager on football games is betting the total. You can bet on over/under the total number of points scored by both teams. If the total is set at 52, the final score must be more than 52 points to win the over and fewer than 52 points to win the under.

If the Bills beat the Rams 35-31, the Bills will cover the 2.5 point spread and the over wins because the total number of points scored is 66. If the final score is 21-17, the under wins because the total points scored ended on 38. Should the score land exactly on 52, the bet is considered a push and the money wagered will be refunded.

NFL Football Teaser Betting

Teasers are popular because bettors can move the point spread to their advantage. Bettors either move down the point spread for a favorite or move up the spread for an underdog. Bettors can play teasers that give them anywhere from six points per game all the way up to 20.

With teasers, bettors choose at least two games, and both must win for the bet to cash. Let’s say you play a three-team 7-point NFL teaser with the Cowboys -3, Eagles -8 and Browns +5. Since you can alter the point spread by seven points, the teaser would be Cowboys +4, Eagles -1 and Browns +12. If all three teams cover the new point spread, you win the bet.

Teasers give you a better chance to cover each game and offer a better payout than straight bets but are more difficult to win because two or more teams must beat the point spread.

NFL Football Parlay Betting

Parlay bets are wagers that include two or more teams with larger payouts than a straight bet. Parlay bets may include different sports, point spreads, moneylines and totals, but all must win or the wager loses.

A parlay payout depends on the number of teams in the bet and the sportsbook. A three-team parlay will often pay out at odds of +600. So, if you bet a three-team parlay with the Cowboys -3, Eagles -8 and Browns +5 for $100, the payout would be about $600 if all three entrees win. Like teasers, parlays are harder than straight bets because at least two separate wagers must hit for it to win.

Parlays have become more popular lately, due largely to the emergence of same-game parlays as a wagering option. Think the Cowboys will win by 4 or more, the game will be high-scoring, AND Dak Prescott will throw for over 300 yards? Now you can combine those three hypothetical bets into a same-game parlay.

NFL Live/In-game Betting

Think the next drive will result in a field goal? Now you can bet on it. Think the next play will be a run? Now you can bet on it. The -6.5 favorite that you bet on is behind in the second quarter? Now the odds have shifted, so if you think they can still come back, you can get them at +4.5. Odds shift throughout the game due to Live Betting. This has been a revelation in the sports world and is one of the most popular forms of betting on NFL games.

NFL Football Futures Betting

A futures bet is exactly what the name suggests: a bet on something that is decided in the future. The most popular futures bet in football is wagering on which team will win the Super Bowl. Let’s say you bet $100 on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl at odds of +700 in August. If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, you win $700, plus the $100 you wagered, but have to wait until February to collect the money. Bettors can often find value with future bets early because odds change throughout the season.

NFL Football Prop Betting

There are many different NFL prop, or proposition bets, including player props, game props and season props. A player prop is exclusive to the outcome of a particular player. For example, you can bet on whether Patrick Mahomes will throw over or under 2.5 touchdowns in a game.

A game prop is something specific to that game, such as whether a safety will be scored. Bettors can wager yes or no. The Super Bowl now has over 500 player and game props, all of which have helped the increasing popularity of the game.

You can wager on NFL props on regular sportsbooks, but if you don’t have access to these in your state, there’s also DFS sites that offer over/under prop wagers. Sites like Underdog (where you can claim the Underdog Fantasy welcome bonus) let you guess more or less on projected player stats.