It’s just rugby league but with more padding! So many people on this side of the Atlantic have made the same hilarious jokes about American football, laughing at the comical amount of protection, the stop-start nature of the game, and how the game has to work to an advertising schedule. Despite a general snicker going around the room whenever the sport is mentioned, American football has gained quite the following the last few years.
From people flocking to Wembley to see the International Series, to all night parties watching the Super Bowl, European American football fans have found ways to enjoy a game from a time zone that’s a quarter of a day behind us. What isn’t restricted by anything like time differences or the Atlantic Ocean is Betsson’s American football betting market. Here, you can find the best American football Odds on all kinds of outcomes during the game.
If this was the USA, you would rarely have the opportunity to take part in legal American Football betting as most bookies, including all online bookmakers, are outlawed in many states. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem to stop Americans spending an estimated $4.8 billion on American Football betting every year. That’s the sort of money that could be the GDP of a small country. Luckily for all of our European customers, American Football betting is completely above board with American Football odds calculated by statistics rather than bookies that operate outside the law.
What are the rules?
It’s simple, all you have to do is play a down from the line of scrimmage to get the ball into your opponent’s end zone to score points. Play the snap and get the ball past the other eleven players using passes, runs, or punts. Got it? Or is it all Greek to you?
When an American football game starts, the two teams line up on either side of the line of scrimmage, an imaginary line that runs the entire width of the playing field that separates the teams and can’t be crossed until the ball is in play. The ball sits on this line and is put into play by the team playing offence when the centre snaps the ball back to one of the players behind them, usually the quarter back but sometimes the fullback or running back. Once the snap has been played, the teams can move across of the line of scrimmage and the offense start to get the ball to the endzone. The defence does everything in their power to stop them achieving this by the time the clock runs out using tackles and takedowns. Once the clock runs out, or a player goes out of bounds, or is tackled to the ground, the ball is dead and the next play needs to be set up.
In a 60-minute game, you’ll have four 15-minute quarters with the teams swapping ends at the end of the first and third quarters. The clock stops any time that the ball isn’t in play giving the game the possibility of lasting several hours as players swap in or a coach is using one of their timeouts. Plenty to get stuck into with American football betting.
A truly American history
Inspired by English football and rugby, American football was first played by Europeans who settled on the continent. The earliest games played resembled something like the mob football games played by neighbouring towns and villages in England which had little to no rules other than to get the ball to your teams goal or target without committing murder or manslaughter. When you see the full contact nature of today’s NFL, it’s not difficult to see the similarities.
The full shape of the sport began to form in the 19th century when colleges began to organise their own games and teams in the early 19th century. From being played on campus between different classes to forming teams to represent the whole school against other colleges, organised American football found its birthplace in American universities. Each school had different rules and organising matches became a difficulty, especially for Harvard who refused to play by any other code but theirs. The games still had a long way to go before it would look like it does today. It was played with a round ball and was kicked or batted around the field with rules against holding the ball.
Shaping the game into something more familiar can be attributed to Walter Camp, widely considered to be the father of the modern game. His suggestions like the reduction in the number of team members, allowing tackling below the waist, and the legalisation of blocking led to slow changes and tweaks that took place throughout the latter half of the 19th century.
American Football today can be brutal with injuries that can end careers but that is nothing compared to the sport’s formative years. This garnered a lot of criticism particularly as there were a lot of deaths on the pitch from dangerous manoeuvres. It spawned attempts to outlaw it, satirical cartoons, and meetings with committees to make the game safer.
The early 20th century saw the most changes to the game rules, which sought to open the game up more and step away from favoured moves that involved large formations of lots of players.
All the different types of American Football betting
When you see all the selections, with all the different American Football odds, to choose from, American football betting might seem a bit daunting to anyone who is just getting into the sport. You may have clicked onto our page thinking you only had a winner in mind but realised there was so much more to American football odds than that.
Depending on how long you want you American football odds to be, you could choose from almost any outcome. There are Over/Under bets, Winning Margins, Last to score, just to name a few options. There are also American Football odds for results at the end of every quarter of the game or if the game will run over its 60 minutes.
FAQ
✅ What types of bets are available for American football?
Moneyline, Total Points and Team Touchdowns are some of the most popular American football markets available at Betsson.
✅ How does point spread betting work in American football?
Point Spread, or Spread Betting, is when an American football team is given a virtual advantage or disadvantage. For example, if you see 'LA Rams -8.5', the Rams have to win by at least 9 points for the bet to come in.
✅ Can I bet on individual player performances at Betsson?
Yes, player prop bets are available at Betsson. Wager on Rushing Yards, Defensive Interceptions, Anytime Touchdowns and much more.
✅ Is live betting available for American football games?
At Betsson, in-play markets are available for all major American football matches. The odds here will adjust in real-time according to the state of play.
