The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The code required to claim a sign-up bonus (if any)
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Is there live streaming of sporting events?
The number of sports with in-play betting available
Can you create your own personalised bets?
Football is the most popular spectator sport in North America. NFL games average over 17 million viewers during the regular season alone. This viewership only ramps up during the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.
College football is also big on the American football landscape, drawing over 5 million views for teams like Alabama. Canada can also enjoy watching exciting action from the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Due to this immense popularity, American football betting is huge and widely available. If you're interested in football gambling, you can learn more about it in the following guide. This page covers how to place bets, top football sportsbooks, bonuses, leagues, wager types and more.
You can wager on football at both land-based and online sportsbooks. The latter have become quite popular due to their convenience. You can now make bets on American football through a smartphone at any time. Here's how to wager at an online site:
No matter where you bet, you'll definitely want to find a quality bookmaker. The best sportsbooks are licensed and regulated and have a good history of serving bettors.
You also want to look for operators that have plenty of American football betting markets, bonuses and banking options (online). Regarding the markets, NFL and college football betting are musts. You also want a great range of bet types, including moneylines, point spreads, totals, in-play options, and more.
The American football betting world is full of online sportsbooks. Therefore, you may have a difficult time sifting through all of the options. If you need any help in this department, you can check out our advice and recommendations below.
Our Gambling.com team has spent many hours reviewing American football sports gambling sites. We look at several key aspects when conducting sportsbook reviews, including markets, promotions, odds, banking options and customer support. You can see our recommendations for the 5 best Canadian football betting sites below.
Our expert team has spent lots of time bringing you the best online football sportsbooks. You can take a big shortcut to enjoying the top betting sites by letting us help out.
However, you might also want to do your own research. It pays knowing what to look for when scouting out top-tier sports wagering sites. The following aspects are all important when seeking a place to bet on football online.
What American football leagues does a sportsbook cover? How many football bet types are available? These are important questions regarding American football betting markets. More bets ensure that you'll have more options to choose from.
Odds determine what kind of deal you're getting on an American football wager. To illustrate this point, let's say that you like the Jacksonville Jaguars on the moneyline. If Jacksonville has +205 odds at one sportsbook and +225 at another, you're getting better odds with the second bookmaker. The goal is to find mobile sportsbooks that consistently offer favourable odds during the regular season and playoffs.
Features refer to the extras available at American football betting sites. Cash out, live streaming, and pre-game statistics are examples of such features. You should look for operators that offer multiple tools and a great user experience.
Most mobile sportsbooks provide a welcome bonus to draw new players. Such deals can include a match deposit bonus, free bets, or risk-free bets. Ideally, you'll find a gambling site that offers many promotions beyond the welcome deal too.
In-play wagering (a.k.a. live betting) gives you the chance to make wagers in the middle of games. If this sounds interesting, then the live wagering selection should be important. A sportsbook gains bonus points if it offers live streaming, which lets you quickly see live wagers play out.
You should only consider licensed and regulated sportsbooks. Licensed bookmakers must follow the rules of their gambling commission and treat gamblers fairly.
Any solid sports betting site will have quality customer service. A knowledgeable support staff will answer your questions in a friendly and timely manner.
Some football gambling sites offer sports betting apps, while others feature instant mobile play (a.k.a. in-browser wagering). In either case, you want a smooth experience that's complete with a user-friendly site/app and fast-loading pages.
The welcome bonus is a big part of any American football sports betting site. Both the bonus' size and terms and conditions heavily weigh into the equation. As for the terms, you want lighter T&Cs so that you'll have an easier time unlocking bonus funds.
Assuming you're experienced at sports betting, then you may have a firm grasp on American football odds. If not, we'll give you a quick primer on the subject.
Betting sites that serve Canadians typically use American odds by default. American football betting odds assign a minus sign (-) to the favourite and plus sign (+) to the underdog. Here's an example of American football odds from an NFL regular season game:
Simply put, you're always wagering more to win less on the favourite (+). Meanwhile, you're wagering less to win more on the underdog team.
The NFL and college game draw the most attention in American football wagering. However, football actually includes various leagues across the US and Canada. You can check out the different organizations below, along with how they differ from each other.
NFL betting is no doubt the most popular type of American football gambling available. It features the world's top football players and draws the most viewers. NFL regular season games begin in early September and run until early January (17 games total). The playoffs begin in early January and culminate with the Super Bowl.
The NFL playoffs begin with 14 teams and end with two teams playing in the Super Bowl. Speaking of which, Super Bowl betting is the biggest out of any annual sporting event. Well over 30 million people wager on the Super Bowl each year.
College football currently features 131 schools in FBS Division 1. Roughly half of these teams play in the Power Five conferences, which contribute most or all of the playoff teams. Not coincidentally, NCAAF betting mostly revolves around the Power Five, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
NCAA football features many bowl games in December and early January. However, the College Football Playoff (CFP) is the season's pinnacle. It pits the top-four teams against each other in the semifinals and, eventually, National Championship.
The CFL features Canada's professional football teams, such as the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders. That said, CFL betting draws plenty of gamblers in Canada and beyond. The regular season sees teams battle for seeding in the East and West Division. Six of the league's nine teams make the playoffs, with the East and West champs meeting in the Grey Cup.
The Xtreme Football League originally launched in 2001 under Vince McMahon. The WWE founder relaunched the XFL in 2018, with Alpha Acquico LLC purchasing the league in 2022. Sporting eight teams total in two divisions, the XFL plays from February to April.
Like the XFL, the United States Football League is another reboot of an older league. The USFL rebooted in 2022, with eight teams playing the entire regular season schedule in Birmingham, Alabama. USFL playoff games took place in Canton, Ohio in 2022.
The American football gambling industry offers a wide variety of bet types. You can see what to expect across different sportsbooks below.
An outright bet deals with the entirety of a season rather than a single game. Commonly called "futures," these bets are typically available at the beginning of a season. Here are examples of outright football bets:
A match market refers to wagers involving specific matches, or games. Match betting covers lots of territory, including everything from moneylines to prop bets. You can see a quick synopsis of these wagers below:
Some of these wagers require a deeper explanation. Here are examples of point spreads, totals, parlays, and players:
Draft bets revolve around the annual NFL Draft in the spring. While there are different draft markets, the most popular involves the first player drafted. Here's an example:
Beyond draft markets, you can enjoy more bets like the offensive rookie or defensive rookie of the year award.
You can boost your chances of winning with football gambling through a few simple tips. The following advice is helpful for NFL betting strategy or any other league.
You should spend time assessing both sides of a handicap bet before risking your money. This research should include stats, injuries, team histories, coaches, average touchdown scores and more.
Football statistics are often widely available for each league. You'll especially find a wealth of statistics for NFL betting. You can use in-depth team and player statistics to see if one team has season advantages in certain areas.
Knowing lineup changes before other bettors can be a huge boost. For example, a defensive rookie might be moving into the starting lineup. We suggest following beat reporters each season to quickly get this news.
The same tip from above applies to injuries during the regular season or postseason. Following insiders on Twitter or elsewhere can get you this information faster.
Weather conditions and stadiums can have big impacts on a game. For example, rainy weather could slow down a passing team like Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.
You can bet on American football through both land-based sportsbooks and betting sites. The latter are more convenient because they don't require any travel. You can get started at an online sportsbook by registering and depositing. Available banking options may include a bank account number, credit cards, cryptocurrencies and e-wallets.
Most Canada-facing sportsbooks use American odds, which include plus signs (underdog) and minus signs (favourite). If the Packers have -200 odds, for example, you'd be wagering $200 to win $100. Assuming the Vikings have +160 odds, you'd be risking $100 to win $160.
You can check out our Gambling.com reviews to find betting sites that consistently offer favourable odds. Additionally, certain software programs let you simultaneously monitor the odds at multiple online sportsbooks.
Football moneylines, spreads, totals, live wagers, and prop bets are all popular. The latter include players' performance, like who'll get the most passing yards or rushing yards, or get the first touchdown.
You can wager on NFL, college, CFL, XFL and USFL games. NFL betting involves everything from the regular season to Super Bowl. Therefore, you'll have no shortage of games to wager on during the NFL season.
Plenty of great Canadian football gambling sites are available. However, we like 888sports and LeoVegas the best out of any betting sites. Both bookmakers excel in a number of areas regarding football wagering.
888sports offers our favourite American football wagering app. The 888 app features smooth navigation, quick-loading pages, and helpful features. Moreover, 888 offers competitive odds, more bets and many in-play gambling opportunities.
"Jeremy Olson has been writing about gambling since 2004. He started out by covering poker and branched out into casino games and sports betting shortly thereafter when he started reviewing online casinos and sportsbooks in 2008."
Reviewer since August 2021
Live Betting. News and Industry Updates. Sent Weekly.
