NFL BETTING SITES

Updated list of the Best NFL Online Sportsbooks in September 2023

You don’t need any analysis to claim that the NFL is by far the most popular sports competition across the United States. Naturally, the popularity of one sport among fans often reflects its popularity among sports bettors, and the NFL is no exception.

Millions of Americans place bets during an NFL season, and that number rises during the postseason and especially in the period preceding the Super Bowl. Research shows that a record 31.4 million Americans placed a bet of some kind on Super Bowl LVI between Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.

The record number comes as no surprise considering that more and more states are authorizing online sports betting every year, also resulting in a higher number of sportsbook brands in the US market. 

All of this makes American bettors from regulated states spoilt for choice and creates a challenge of finding the absolute best NFL sports betting sites. If you need help in overcoming that challenge, this page is a good place to start.

Our analysts have done in-depth research, scanning all available NFL betting apps and sites in regulated states and establishing criteria through which they ranked them accordingly. Apart from helping you find the best NFL sports betting sites, we’ll introduce you to online NFL betting basics, including the sign up process, types of bets you can make, bonuses you can claim, and other useful stuff.

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NFL Betting Market Depth

Our recommended NFL betting sites provide a full slate of wagering options from moneyline and spreads to player props, futures, and all kinds of special bets. Every game can have 100 or more betting markets.

Welcome Bonuses and Ongoing Promos

While betting bonuses primarily serve as a marketing trick to lure players to a given sportsbook, they can still be quite beneficial. We selected top NFL sportsbooks based on this aspect as well, and you’ll find that each of them has a nice welcome bonus on top of many other exciting deals.

Apart from standard free bets and match deposit bonuses, the best NFL betting bookies also have NFL-specific promotions, like odds boosts, parlay boosts, insurance, etc. We’ll explain how different types of NFL bonuses work later in this text.

Quality of Odds

Many rookie bettors make a mistake in thinking that all sportsbooks feature the same odds. While the differences in odds might not be that great, every line movement matters, especially if you want to extend your profit in the long run. Naturally, we looked to put NFL betting bookies that offer above-average odds higher on our list.

NFL Mobile Apps

Mobile devices are slowly overtaking desktop computers as primary devices for online betting. Using an NFL mobile betting app is much more practical and convenient, not to mention that you can get in on the action at any time and place. We made sure that each of our recommended sportsbooks features functional and user-friendly apps for iOS and Android.

Payment Options and Features

Each sportsbook we promote is legal and regulated, so you won’t have to worry about not getting paid your winnings or having your financial information misused. Meanwhile, the NFL betting sites we selected have an excellent track record in speedy payouts, low to non-existent fees, plenty of deposit and withdrawal options (credit cards, e-wallets, bank wires, etc.), and optimal limits.

Customer Care

It’s only a matter of time when you’ll need to ask about your balance, bonus status, payment, or how to make a certain bet or use one of the sportsbook’s features. Since time is always essential when betting, we appreciate sportsbooks that are open around the clock and respond quickly while being available through multiple channels. Bookies with resourceful Help and FAQ pages also get a plus in our book.

Brief History of the NFL

The National Football League was founded over a century ago, on September 17, 1920. Even though organized games and tournaments existed before the league’s foundation, the NFL came in intending to raise the standard of professional football in all conceivable ways.

The original league was called the American Professional Football Association (APFA). It consisted of 14 teams, including the Decatur Staleys (Chicago Bears) and Chicago Cardinals (Arizona Cardinals), that play in the league to this day. In 1922, the APFA took a new name — the National Football League (NFL).

In the first several years, the champion was determined through a regular season record. However, that changed in 1933 when the league split into two divisions, with the division champions battling for the league title in a single championship game.

While many other leagues formed during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, the NFL stood unchallenged in terms of quality and professionalism. That was until the American Football League appeared in 1960. It was soon decided for the two leagues to merge and create two new conferences — the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Before that finally happened in 1970, the champions of the two separate leagues played a championship game (Super Bowl) from 1967 to 1970.

The league’s structure stays pretty much unchanged to this day. Some teams were shut down, others were introduced, and some changed names or moved to other cities. Today, the NFL consists of 32 teams split into the same two conferences that were created in 1970. It is the most popular sports league in North America, gathering hundreds of millions of worldwide viewers each year.

The most successful teams in NFL history include the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, each winning six Super Bowls.

NFL Regular Season, Playoffs, and Super Bowl Format

The NFL regular season is relatively short compared to other American professional leagues, usually lasting from September to January. The playoffs begin only days after the regular season, and they conclude with the Super Bowl that is typically played in mid-February.

The league is split into two conferences (NFC and AFC), each conference containing four divisions. Division champions are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, while three non-champion teams qualify as wild cards.

The playoffs start with wild card playoffs between wild card teams, and teams seeded two through four (the first seed gets a pass and goes directly to divisional playoffs). The winners of the divisional playoffs go to play in NFC and AFC Championship games, respectively. Finally, when the conference champions are decided, they meet in the Super Bowl, usually played in a neutral venue. The entire playoffs, including the Super Bowl, have a single-elimination format.

How NFL Sports Betting Online Works

Online betting today is very convenient, and you can start placing bets in just a few minutes. The best NFL betting sites just require some basic information to confirm your identity while creating an account. After that, you only need to deposit, and you can start making your first NFL betting slip.

Here are some more details about how the whole process works from start to finish:

1. Select one of the top NFL sportsbooks. Go through our list of the best NFL betting sites and select one that suits your preferences. Mind that you are free to create an account on each betting site available in your state.
2. Sign up. Click the button leading to a registration form and fill out all required fields. The operator will ask for some information regarding your identity, such as your full name, date of birth, address, last four digits of your social security number, and some other details.
3. Complete a deposit. Go to the cashier page and choose your preferred payment method. Type in the deposit amount and confirm the payment. With most payment methods, the deposits are almost instantaneous.
4. Pick up an NFL sports betting bonus. Once you deposit, you’ll have an option to claim the sportsbook’s intro promo. See what you should do to unlock the offer (minimum deposit, qualifying bet, promo code, etc.) and pay attention to the bonus terms and conditions.
5. Start betting. If you went through all these steps like a hot knife through butter, all that’s left for you to do is place your first NFL bet. Find the NFL in the sportsbook’s menu, check all available games for betting, and click on corresponding markets to add the bets to your betting slip. Input your stake and confirm the wager.

This entire process looks pretty much identical whether you’re trying to register on mobile or desktop. The only extra step you need to do on mobile is download and install the sportsbook’s mobile app.

Also, mind that some states with regulated online sports betting require in-person registration.

Most Popular Types of NFL Bets

Typical NFL betting bookies will allow you to place wagers on every single NFL game throughout the regular season and playoffs, with each game coming with loads of betting options, including moneyline, spread, totals, props, and futures. Here’s what every one of these betting types considers.

Moneyline

The moneyline is for bettors who want to keep it straight and just predict the winner of a given NFL game. The odds on each participating team are shown in +/- values, with positive numbers indicating the underdog and negative being appointed to the favorite.

Let’s say the Green Bay Packers are hosting the Carolina Panthers. The Packers are obviously favorites and the odds of them winning are -300. This means that for a $100 profit, you need to put a $300 stake. Meanwhile, the Panthers winning the game comes with the odds of +210. Since this is a more unlikely outcome, you can get a $210 profit for only wagering $100.

Point Spread

While point spread betting exists across many other sports, it is nowhere as popular as in football. With this bet, you’ll need to consider points given or subtracted from teams’ totals. Spreads even out the playing field, making games with unevenly matched opponents more exciting.

For example, if we take Packers and Panthers again, we see that the Packers are the favorites. In the point spread market, the Packers would be assigned -6.5, meaning that they’ll need to win by seven or more points to “cover the spread.” Alternatively, betting on the Panthers with +6.5 means they need to lose by six or fewer points or simply win the game. 

Of course, these handicap points will reflect the odds, which will often be around -110 on either side.

Totals (Over/Under)

Totals are a great bet for when you’re undecided on who you think will win but have a notion on whether it’s going to be a low- or high-scoring game. Taking the Packers and Panthers matchup again as an example, let’s say the sportsbook put up 37.5 points in the totals market. From there, you’ll either bet over (38 or more points) or under (37 or fewer points).

Who wins the game or how big of a margin is completely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the total number of points scored.

Proposition Bets (Props)

Props are bets that relate to specific occurrences during an NFL game. They can be divided into game and player props. Typical game props may include guessing the first team to score, the first team to score a touchdown, team to have more passing yards, team to win the first quarter, first half betting, and much more. You can even bet on who wins the coin toss at the start of the game.

With player props, you’ll be guessing the performance of individual players through all the main statistical categories.

Props provide loads of interesting and unique bets during the Super Bowl where you can bet on all sorts of wacky stuff like how long the national anthem will last or what would be the Gatorade color poured on the winning coach.

Futures

Simply put, futures are bets that predict the future outcomes of a given competition. In the NFL, the most popular futures bet is guessing the winner of the next Super Bowl. You can place this bet at almost any time during the year, as sportsbooks usually post odds for the next Super Bowl as soon as the previous one concludes.

Futures betting options also include guessing division and conference champions, whether a team will make the playoffs, and individual player awards like MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and more.

NFL Sports Betting Bonus Offers

There’s an overwhelming number of NFL sports betting bonus deals like free bets, deposit matches, odds boosts, and more. You’ll usually bump into a lucrative welcome bonus as a new customer while gaining access to other, occasional promotions along the way. 

Here’s how some of NFL sports betting bonuses work:

• Free bets — A free bet lets you make a wager without spending your money and will usually be credited to your account after making a qualifying deposit. If you lose, it’s as if nothing happened since you didn’t lose your own money. If you win, you’ll get to keep the profit but not the stake. Additionally, you’ll likely need to wager your winnings a predetermined amount of times.
• Risk-free bets — A risk-free bet is a promotion that creates a win-win type of scenario. The winning wagers count as usual, but if you lose, you’ll get your stake back, usually in the form of free bet credits. The catch is that you can usually only make a risk-free bet on certain markets and on certain odds.
• Match deposit bonuses — This type of offer gives you a chance to get more extra funds by making higher deposits. For instance, if the bonus is 200%, you’ll earn a $200 bonus on a $100 deposit, but if you deposit $300, you’ll get a $600 bonus. Of course, the amount of money you can win as a bonus will be limited, and you’ll have to meet the wagering requirements before cashing out.
• NFL odds boosts — Specific NFL games may come with boosted odds. For instance, +140 on the New England Patriots may be boosted to +200 when claiming the odds boost deal.
• NFL parlay boosts — A sportsbook may also give you a chance to earn extra if you make a parlay bet consisting exclusively of NFL games. Depending on how many legs you select, the boost in your potential profit can be anywhere between 5% to 20% on most sportsbooks.

NFL Live Betting

NFL bettors are very active not only before the game but also during it. Each of the best NFL sports betting sites offers dozens of live markets that you can explore after the kickoff, including standard moneyline, spreads, and totals (with values and odds changing depending on what’s happening on the field), and various in-game props like guessing which team will score next.

NFL Betting Apps

Many agree that betting on mobile is superior to desktop betting, especially with smartphones and tablets getting better and more feature-packed by the day. That’s why all major NFL betting bookies invest in making their service mobile-friendly. Most sportsbooks have an app that you can download and install on your iOS and Android devices in seconds and without charge.

NFL betting apps have the same options as betting sites but will also come with a few extra features like push notifications, customization options, and maybe even some mobile-exclusive bonuses.

NFL Betting Rules

NFL betting doesn’t have any major restrictions, unlike college football betting. All bets are available regardless of which state you are in and which game you’re betting on.

If the game goes to overtime, most sportsbooks will count those bets unless otherwise stated. If a game is postponed or canceled, the bet will likely stay active for a predetermined amount of time, allowing the game to be rescheduled and played at a future date. If that time passes, the bets will be nullified.

For other rules, you should visit the betting rules page on an individual sportsbook, as they might have their own protocols for certain situations.

NFL Betting Tips

There’s a lot that goes into being a successful NFL bettor. Over time, you’ll figure out various strategies and find a system that best works for you, but for now, here are some general tips you should stick to when placing NFL bets:

• Do your research — Check the H2H record of competing teams, mind their position in the standings, take into account their current form, see whether there are any players on the injury list. Basically, find out everything you can about a given matchup and take it into the equation when making a prediction.
• Go odds shopping — You have more than one NFL betting site to bet on, so use this opportunity to see which sportsbook offers the best odds for a particular game.
• Take advantage of NFL promotions — If a sportsbook offers an odds boost for a game of your interest, don’t shy away from taking advantage of it.
• Never bet as a fan — Don’t bet on your favorite teams just because you want them to win. Try to set your fandom aside and look at things objectively. Sometimes it’s best to not bet on a game involving your favorite team at all.