Legal Betting on NFL Games

Professional football is the most widely watched and wagered on sport in the U.S. and it is a favorite pastime for millions of Americans. While hundreds of people crowd the streets of Las Vegas every season to bet on the games, most of us don’t want to travel however many miles to find a legitimate bookmaker. Luckily, there are websites out there that allow players from all over America to take advantage of every single wager type and make real money with legal NFL betting. We will walk you through online sports betting in general and go over how you are able to use these sites legally. We will also give you our pick for the best site for NFL action, and talk about the specifics of betting on the games.

You have a wide variety of options when it comes to wagering on the NFL. You can play the lines, player props, team props, and even use live in-game wagering, which lets you stay right in the action of a game while betting on the shifting real-time odds. We will go over the odds types as well as the wager types available to you as a member of an online sportsbook, and you will see that this is a legal and safe way to enjoy America’s favorite game.

Is It Legal To Bet On NFL Football?

As long as you make your picks at a legally regulated venue, then it is safe to bet on the NFL. There are stipulations that dictate whether online sportsbooks, and all of the sites we review, follow all of the rules and are therefore legal to use. There are only a few states that have land-based options for bettors, but there are many online venues that residents of all states can use. Both land-based and online sportsbooks must follow certain laws.

The great thing about online wagering is that the sites themselves are located overseas, meaning they sidestep many of the local federal laws that clamp down on bookmaking in our neck of the woods. If you want to drop a dime on a playoff game at a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, you would either need to travel to Nevada or Delaware, because the federal regulations restrict any other state from hosting their own wagering establishments. These laws do not affect the web-based bookmakers, and most of them accept residents from all fifty states. Since there aren’t any state or federal laws that go after the average bettor, you are in full safety when using one of these sites.

Sports Betting Laws for the US | US States with Sports Betting

Best NFL Betting Sites That Are Legal

As we have shown, the sites that we review are all in line with the laws and there is therefore no problem with players from the U.S. using them. We have been reviewing many sites for years and have some particular favorites. Some of them are great in a particular area while others specialize in a different aspect of the sportsbook. One might have the best payout options while another might have the best mobile site. We would like to introduce you to our favorite sites for NFL betting specifically. These sites get the most up-to-date odds and lines, and have wager types out the wazoo.

  • Bovada Sportsbook
  • 50% Cash Bonus for New Players!

Bovada SportsbookOur choice for the best experience when betting on NFL games is Bovada's online sportsbook. This is the number one sports betting site in the U.S. with millions of satisfied members. You won’t find a more extensive NFL wagering section on any other site. During the season, you can place bets on your favorite team to win the game, and parlay that with other events. Also, with Bovada’s live/in-game wagering on NFL football, you can bet on the odds of a live game while they update right in front of your eyes. You also have the option to make future and prop bets on your favorite team or player during the off-season. Let’s say it’s July and you want to make an NFL wager. You can go to the props bets section and bet your favorite team to win the Super Bowl. By getting in this early, you can lock in great odds.

Bovada doesn’t just have the best NFL experience available; you also have the ability to bet on everything from the MLB, and NHL to college sports. Is auto racing more your thing? They have that too. You can even bet on things like darts, cricket, and snooker. The choices are endless. Bovada has a great welcome bonus so get over there and check them out. We are sure you will agree that they are the best online sportsbook in the business.

  • Bovada Sportsbook
  • 50% Cash Bonus for New Players!
  • BetOnline Sportsbook
  • 25% Free Play Bonus! - Available In All 50 States!
  • SportsBetting Sportsbook
  • 50% Free Play! - Best Bonuses for New Players
  • 5Dimes Sportsbook
  • 50% Free Play! - Speedy Payouts - Mobile-Friendly!
More About Using Legal NFL Betting Sites

We've already shown you which sites where betting is legal are best for betting on NFL games, now lets take a quick peek at some of the other things you will need to know before wagering on NFL games. BettingIsLegal.com breaks down a lot of this information in more in-depth ways on other pages of this website, however those that are totally unfamiliar will benefit from glancing over this quick start guide. If you require more assistance, please visit our other pages or contact any of the NFL betting sites shown above and they'll be glad to help in whatever way possible.

How To Bet On The NFL Online

When you first get started, you may be wondering how to navigate the sportsbook to find the sections you are looking for. Once you get to the homepage, you will want to start by joining and then funding your account. These are fairly easy steps, and the site can walk you through it. Now that you have cash in your account, you choose what you want to bet on. You will usually have several options at the top of the homepage. There are tabs for the sportsbook, horses, poker, and casino. The one you will want to be concerned with if you want to bet the NFL is the sportsbook.

When you click on the sportsbook tab, you will see a list of all the options you have for what to bet on. Click on “NFL” or “football” and you will have all of the choices listed. If it shows, “football,” simply click the link and there will be a dropdown showing options including the NFL, CFL and NCAA. Choose NFL and plenty of options will appear for you to choose from, including current odds and wager types.

Using The Online Cashier To Make A Deposit

Any time you want to make a deposit or request a payout you’ll want to visit the cashier at your favorite site. There you will find a list of all of the methods that are available. Most players like to deposit using a credit/debit card, and most sites accept all the major card companies. Making a deposit this way is as simple as ordering a pizza online or buying something on Amazon. The funds will transfer into your account immediately, and you can throw down some bills on that Steelers game post haste.

Cards are not the only options for making a deposit; they are just the easiest and most popular. Most sites also let you choose from cash wire services such as MoneyGram and Western Union, money orders, bank wires, Bitcoin, and more. As you can see, you don’t even need to involve a bank at all if you don’t want to. Be sure to check out our deposits page to learn more.

How To Get A Deposit Bonus For Betting On The NFL

Not only do these sites make depositing a pain free and fast process, they will also reward you for doing so. You can up your odds this season with deposit bonuses of up to $1,000, depending on the site. These rewards tend to come with promo codes that you will either enter in at the cashier when you are adding funds to your account, or email to the site so they know which bonus you want to take advantage of. Another thing to remember is that nothing in this world is free, and these sites don’t just hand out money for nothing. There will be rollover requirements that require you to wager the bonus amount, as well as the deposit amount, a certain number of times before the extra cash becomes available. Either way, if you are an avid NFL fan and you think you will be wagering often, these bonuses are well worth looking in to.

Legal Sportsbook Deposits | Legal Sportsbooks Payouts | Sportsbook Bonuses | Mobile Sports Betting Apps

More About Using Legal NFL Betting Sites

Want to learn more about how the actual wagers work? Well, this section should help shed a little light on the subject. Of course, there are places with more details about NFL betting than this quick guide, but this should serve to get you started. At the end of the day, if you need more help learning about all the different NFL odds and various wager types then do not have any reservations about contacting your online sportsbook of choice, and asking - they are there to help customers in any possible way.

NFL Game Lines

There are several different odds types you can choose from when betting the NFL. They are all broadly broken down into two types, point spreads and money lines. With point spreads, you are picking the winner or loser based on the points they are either getting or giving away, and the bookmaker decides these odds. The favored team has a negative number and the underdog has a positive number. If there is no favorite, the odds will be even. Therefore, if the Bills are the favorites and are listed at -3 they must win by 4 or more points. If the Jets are the underdogs and are listed at +3 they could lose by two on the scoreboard and you would still be a winner if you wagered on them. Keep in mind, the point spread does not affect the actual outcome of a game, these added or subtracted points are only there to even the playing field for the bettors.

American moneyline odds are concerned with the outright winner of the game. These odds let you know how much you will win by placing your bet on the team of your choice. You may see something like this:

Buffalo Bills (-120) vs. New York Jets (+110)

The numbers relate to how much you will win if you bet $100, or how much you must bet in order to win $100. For instance, if you place a $100 wager on the Jets, you would get back $210 if you win. That is the $100 you wagered plus $110 you won. If you bet $120 on the Bills and you win, you would receive $100 profit plus the $120 you bet for a total of $220. So the negative number reflects the favorite, and the positive number represents the underdog.

Different Ways To Bet Money On NFL Games

Just as with odds types there are different wager types. The most common wager made at legal USA betting sites is the single bet. This is where you are betting on the winner of a contest or the over/under for total points. This is probably the one you have used with your friends, where you put five on Green Bay to beat Chicago.

A parlay is a way of linking multiple single bets together. Also known as a combo bet, this wager type will increase your payout if you win but your chances of hitting all games are lower. With a parlay if any bet loses then the whole parlay loses. There are modified parlay options called teasers and pleasers. These let you either move points in or away from your favor. Teasers up your chances of winning by moving the points your way, but the payout amount dwindles down. Pleasers are the opposite, you make things harder on yourself by moving points in the other direction. However, with pleasers the payout amount rises dramatically.

There are many other ways to bet including point buying, futures, player and team props, and more. You can find the in-depth details about all of this on our wager types page. The fact is, if you go with any of the legal NFL sports betting sites that we are talking about, you will have a plethora of options that will up the enjoyment factor of a game tenfold.