Sarah | February 26, 2020 | Updated on: December 20th, 2023
National Football League futures (also known as NFL futures) are bets on matches yet to be played in the United States’ most popular sporting league. Futures bets are almost exclusively made on the biggest events in the NFL, which include the Super Bowl, Conference Championships and Division winners. This betting market adds much more to the thrill of these already very exciting matches. It’s a high risk bet with an even higher reward. Different sportsbooks offer a different range of odds on favorites and underdogs.
If you are looking to place a future bet on the NFL anytime soon and would like to learn more about what it entails, keep reading. Below we get into what exactly NFL future betting is, how each bet works and why it is extremely important to find the best possible betting lines. We have also put together a list of the best US online gambling sites for NFL football futures and beyond!
Find the Best NFL Futures Odds Here
Looking to find the best NFL futures bets online? Well, look no further! The sportsbooks listed below will give you access to all the most popular NFL betting options online. You will also get some of greatest odds you’ll ever come across.
What You’ll Find In Our NFL Futures Guide
What are NFL Futures?
Basically, NFL futures betting lines see bettors place a wager on a team that they predict will win a match that takes place in the future. As previously mentioned, these aren’t just any matches, but rather the most important of the season – think along the lines of the Super Bowl, Conference or Division winner. There are also NFL futures total wins betting options available at some sports betting sites.
A future bet is a huge gamble because bets are placed sometime before the match is played, in many cases very early on in the season. As the season progresses, sportsbooks adjust the odds to reflect what is taking place in the league. US gamblers who wish to bet a future match will receive fixed odds when they place their bet. Whatever amount is wagered is tied up until there is a result.
Future odds are generally updated weekly and wagers can be placed all through the season up to a certain period. As the winner is very difficult to predict so far ahead of time, odds on these bets generally offer massive payouts.
Overall, to place the best sportsbook NFL futures it may pay to wait until the season starts and every team has played a handful of games. It should be easier to gauge whether a team is playing as good as they are on paper. Other than that, we also recommend that gamblers shop around for odds, especially NFL futures division odds as these bets are sometimes easier to predict.
Check Out Our Other NFL Guides
How to Bet NFL Futures Lines
As previously mentioned, there are several NFL futures bets available to US bettors online. Some of the most popular include the following:
- NFL Futures Super Bowl Winner – these are bets placed on a team to win the Super Bowl at the end of the season. This is probably the most popular betting option at sportsbooks around the country. Hundreds of thousands of gamblers place these bets on the Super Bowl each and every year.
- NFC/AFC Champion – Conference Championship games are the second most important in the season. They decide the two teams which will compete to win the year’s Super Bowl title. If one conference has had a particularly good showing in a season, it may be difficult to select a winner. Alternatively, if one team has been steam-rolling all opposition, it should be relatively easy.
- Division Winner – these are bets made on a team to win a particular division. Some divisions are easier to predict than others meaning that some offer more lucrative payouts than others. For example, in 2018, the NFC South was considered the league’s toughest division with the Saints, Panthers, Falcons and Buccaneers. It was difficult to predict just which team would win it as all stood a very good chance.
- Super Bowl MVP – while this may be a cross between a future and a prop bet, it is one of the most popular NFL Super Bowl futures. Before the match begins, bettors select a player they think will stand out in the game.
- NFL Futures Win Totals – these are bets placed on a team’s end of season win totals.
There are very many other future bets available at US sportsbooks based on players and teams. Be sure to check them out.
Top NFL Futures Betting Tips
Future bets are some of the hardest to get right, but they offer some of the biggest payouts. It is for this reason that many gamblers search for help to make better bets. There is no foolproof future betting strategy, but hopefully the tips below will help set you down the path of making more successful bets on a more regular basis. The trick really is to be more strategic with your betting decisions.
- Place Multiple Bets Wisely – if you are a serious bettor, you may not want to even consider this strategy. The idea is if you place bets on more teams to win a title, you are more likely to get a winner. Perhaps, it may even cover your losses. We say don’t use this strategy if you’re serious about betting because it can be ridiculously expensive if all your selections are wrong.
- Don’t Make Opposing Bets – if you think that the Green Bay Packers have a good chance of winning the Super Bowl, and decide to bet on them, don’t bet on the Minnesota Vikings at a later stage as an attempt to double your chances of winning. These two teams in the same division, the odds of them both making it to the playoffs are slim. In addition to this, they can never play each other in the final.
- Consider Hedge Bets – although we said don’t make too many bets, we didn’t say you shouldn’t consider hedging. If the playoff round starts and there is a clear favorite in the both the NFC and AFC, bet on both. You may see a payout at the end of the season.