How to Bet on the NFL
From sold-out London fixtures to Sunday viewing figures at an all-time high, American football has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the UK, so it’s never been a better time to know how to bet on the NFL with real confidence.
And this year, there's no shortage of reasons to get up to speed before the start of the season in the early hours of Thursday 10th September from Lumen Field.
The Seattle Seahawks open the season by hosting the New England Patriots in a rematch of last year's Super Bowl, walking out as defending champions on their own turf and with plenty to prove as they look to set the tone.
Rookies are already turning heads in pre-season, the MVP races are wide open and the road to Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles is as unpredictable as it is competitive.
Every one of those storylines carries a betting angle to consider. Making the right plays, though, starts with knowing the markets themselves.
NFL Betting Terms Explained
It’s a sport that shares so many similarities to a different kind of football this side of the pond.
This includes the names of certain betting markets you should be aware of when learning how to bet on the NFL at BetMGM.
- Match Result: Betting on who wins the game outright after four quarters
- Handicap Betting: One team gets a virtual head start to even up the odds
- Total Points: Betting on whether the combined score goes over or under a set number
- Accumulator: Multiple bets rolled into one across several different games
- Bet Builder: Combining different bets from the same game into a single wager
- Outright Market: A bet on a season-long result, like the Super Bowl winner or MVP
Popular Bet Types for the NFL
We’re home to dozens of hard-hitting NFL betting markets. These rank amongst some of our most popular:
NFL Match Betting
No margin, no maths, just the result at the end of the game. Our match winner market is the simplest way to back a game. The trade-off is that strong favourites don't pay out as much compared to the value of an underdog, but upsets occur all the time on the gridiron.
Take last season, for example, when the Carolina Panthers beat the Green Bay Packers 16-13 on a last-second field goal – one of the biggest upsets of the entire 2025 season.
NFL Handicap Betting
One team starts with a virtual points lead; the other has points taken off, levelling the game before it’s even started.
For example: a team priced at -6.5 needs to win by seven or more for the bet to land. The underdog covers by losing by six or fewer or winning outright.
It's a popular NFL market because it turns one-sided mismatches into genuine contests, offering better odds on some occasions compared to our outright markets, for example.
NFL Over/Under Betting
Not sure which side to choose? Then NFL over/under betting may be your main calling come gametime. This involves betting on the combined score of both teams against a set number – such as over 47.5 points, requiring the score to be 48 or higher between both teams for the bet to land.
It’s a simple read of the game.
The pace of both offences, the state of both defences and the conditions on the day all matter more than who actually wins.
Secondary Markets & Player Props
Looking for value elsewhere on any given gameday before your favourite team kicks off? Check out some of our secondary markets and player props.
Anytime touchdown scorer
Like the name suggests, this market is all about backing a player to score a TD at any point in the game, regardless of the final result.
That’s right, their side can lose comfortably and the bet will still come in, so long as they find the end zone once in any of the four quarters.
It's a market built for players capable of seizing the moment – even if the rest of their team aren’t firing.
Player yardage markets
Every touch of the ball adds up to a number and this market lets you bet on where that number lands – passing, rushing or receiving yards, set against a line for the full game.
It's less about instinct than the other markets and more about doing your homework.
A soft run defence, a favourable game script, a quarterback who trusts one receiver over everyone else – all of it feeds into the total before a single snap is taken.
NFL Bet Builders
Bet Builders have become a Sunday evening staple in the UK because they let you combine multiple selections in the same bet for bigger and better odds.
This gives you the option of combining touchdowns with our yardage markets on top of any other outcomes you believe will come to pass during any game of your choosing – from a Thursday morning curtain-raiser to a heavyweight weekend clash.
Simply choose your game and select the Bet Builder button to start combining your selections.
The more you include, the bigger and better the odds.
Essential Beginner Tips for Betting on the NFL
Like the head coaches tasked with getting the best out of their team, it’s important to go in with a plan when betting on NFL games at BetMGM.
The following tips should help you move up from beginner in no time.
- Time differences: Kick-offs range from early afternoon to past midnight in the UK and the lines keep moving right up until the whistle regardless of what time it is here, so choose when you bet wisely.
- It’s a numbers game: Field goals are worth three, touchdowns are worth six (seven when converting the field goal) and most games are decided by one of those two margins. That's why a spread moving from -2.5 to -3.5 matters far more than it looks.
- Forecasts, not just form: Wind and cold weather strip passing games down fast, especially outdoors late in the season. Domes and warm-weather fixtures tend to play faster and score heavier by comparison.
- Beware home advantages: The NFL's home edge is real but it's a lot flatter. A short season and travel-built rosters see to that, even accounting for outliers like Arrowhead, where the crowd noise is basically its own weapon.
Bet on the NFL at BetMGM
The 2026 NFL season is anyone’s to play for on the road to the Big Game on Sunday 14th February at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Until then we have odds running on over 272 games, spanning 23 states starting with Seahawks vs Patriots on 10th September.
Get in the game with BetMGM.
