NFL
Published: | Updated:NFL is short for National Football League. It is a professional American football league split equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
It consists of 32 teams, divided into 2 sixteen-team conferences, each of which consists of 4 four-team divisions. Only the highest professional level of American football players are competing in this league. League’s headquarters are in New York City.
Each year this competition follows the same structure:
- Three-week pre-season in August
- 18-week regular season (September – January)
- The regular season finishes off with seven teams from each conference (four division winners and three wild card teams) advancing to the playoffs;
- A single-elimination tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl
- Super Bowl is in February between AFC and NFC conference champions
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What is Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the final playoff game of the NFL to find out the champion. It has been the final game since 1966. The game is typically on the second Sunday in February. And people call it the “big game,” and the day the game is happening is often referred to as “Super Bowl Sunday” or simply “Super Sunday.”
NFL history
National Football League was formed in 1920, and firstly it was called the American Professional Football Association (APFA). People recognized it only by the name “National Football League” after 1922.
Eventually, there was an agreement to merge the NFL with the rival American Football League (AFL), which has remained the final game of each NFL season since the merger was completed in 1970. Interesting that the Super Bowl was first held in 1967 to determine a champion between the best teams from the two leagues.
Certainly, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league globally. More than 65 thousand fans attend the games, and it is the most popular sports league in the United States. Also, the Super Bowl is among the most significant club sporting events in the world, with individual games accounting for many of the most-watched television programs in American history.
NBC Sunday Night Football is an American weekly television broadcast of National Football League games on NBC and Peacock in the United States. It began airing on August 6, 2006, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game opening that year’s pre-season.
NFL trophies
The National Football League has used three different trophies to honor its champion over its existence.
The Brunswick-Balke Collender Corporation donated the first trophy to the NFL in 1920, and therefore it is the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. The idea was to have the award as a traveling trophy without becoming permanent until a team had won at least three titles. “Silver-loving cup” is another word for this trophy. Interesting fact that the league awarded it to the Akron Pros, champions of the inaugural 1920 season. However, the trophy was discontinued and can’t be found.
Afterward, the second trophy, the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, honored Thorp after he died in 1934. Ed Thorp was a referee in the league and a friend to many early league owners. In addition to the main trophy, the league issued a smaller replica trophy to each champion, who would maintain permanent control over it. At this point, the trophy is lost and could be possessed by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
The current trophy of the NFL is the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Super Bowl trophy was officially renamed in 1970 after Vince Lombardi, who, as head coach, led the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. A new Vince Lombardi Trophy is issued to each year’s champion, who maintains permanent control of it. Lombardi Trophies are made by Tiffany & Co. out of sterling silver and are worth from US$25,000 to US$300,000.
Finally, each player on the winning team, coaches, and personnel are awarded Super Bowl rings to commemorate their victory. Each ring design varies, with the NFL mandating certain ring specifications and requiring the Super Bowl logo to be on at least one side of the ring. Interesting that the losing team also gets a ring, with no more than half the value of the winners’ rings, but those are rarely worn.
NFL Odds and Bet Types Explained
Throughout time, American football has remainedthe remained the most popular sport in the United States. If you are ready to try your luck with Sports betting, you should start by understanding different types of bets and possibilities. So in this article, we explain how to read NFL odds and show differences among all kinds of bets for the NFL.
How to read NFL Odds?
Odds are represented as a number with positive or negative signs before them. There are two numbers you need to know about. The first one is the spread, and the second is the odds. Remember that the minus (-) sign indicates that the team is a favorite, meaning they are likelier to win the game. The plus (+) sign means they are less likely to win. Players call them ”underdogs”.
The spread is the number of points the winner needs to win for the bet to win. For example, a spread of -3.5 means the winning team must win by over 4 points for the bet to be a winner (as the team cannot have a 0,5 points difference).
Important to know that the odds are the actual payout structure of the game. A – sign before the odds means that this is the amount of money you need to risk to win $100. You don’t have to bet $100, as your bet will be scaled up or down accordingly. For example, -110 means you need to wager $110 to win a $100 profit. So, your total amount back will be $210.
A + sign means you are betting on the underdog, and the number indicates the amount you win for every $100 wagered. Again scaled up/down accordingly. For example, placing a bet at +130 means, you wager $100 and win $130 if the underdog wins, ending up with $230.
Negative Odds (favorite): How much you risk to win $100
Positive Odds (underdog): How much you can win on a $100 bet.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to bet $100! You can bet with less. It is easier to explain the calculation this way. Also, there is a difference between the odds used in Europe and the USA. American odds also are called Decimal Odds, Implied Odds, or Fractional Odds. For example, 1/4 Odds are the Fractional Odds version of +400. For this, you can always use the Odds calculator that can be found on the site.
What types of bets can you place on the NFL?
Watching NFL games is more fun if you have placed a bet using one of the bet types below!
Moneyline Odds
Moneyline bets are for you if you want to bet on the team winning the game! They are the most popular types of bets you can place for the NFL. With this one, you only need the team to win for your bet to be a winner. A three-digit number with the plus or minus sign before them represents the Moneyline odds. You will also see spread points posted simultaneously as the Moneyline odds.
Point Spread Bets
The point spread bets win when a team wins or loses by more than the points indicated. Teams with a negative are predicted to win, while those with a plus are predicted to lose. If you place a bet for the winning team (with a minus sign), they have to win by more than the spread listed. If you choose the losing team, they have to lose by less than the number indicated for the bet to win. Winning a bet like this is sometimes called covering the spread.
Overs and Unders (Total)
These are straightforward bets to understand. You must determine whether the score will be over or under a specific value. Remember that these are the combined scores for both teams. If the over/under is set at 32.5, a bet of over would need 33 total points, while one under would need 32 or fewer combined points.
Prop Bets
Prop (proposition) bets are bets on anything that happens on the field. These include all events during the broadcast and any events that do not affect the game’s outcome. Because of how they are structured, these are usually based on statistics and require a lot of analysis and knowledge to place.
NFL player props are props placed on player statistics. These can be on how many games the player will win, how many yards they will carry the ball, if they receive any awards, and so on.
NFL team props are proposition bets on a team or franchise. They include everything from winning a game or league to winning the Super Bowl. They can also include total points for the season if the team moves to a new stadium, a manager gets fired, or even if the team’s name is changed.
Super Bowl props are placed on events of the Super Bowl. They are trendy, and thousands of bets exist to choose from because of how much happens during the Super Bowl. These can range from who will sing the national anthem to whether a fan will cause the game to be stopped.
NFL agent prop bets have to do with free-agent players. They can be placed on the team they will join or how long they remain without a team.
Lastly, we have draft props. These revolve around the draft and include bets like which players will go to which team, who will be picked first, and the like.
Check out NFL 2022/2023 schedule and upcoming plans!
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The league splits its 32 teams into two conferences — the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each 16-team conference is then split into four divisions of four teams each — the East, North, South and West.
There will be 17 games for each team this season, and here’s a breakdown of how each team’s opponents are set:
Six games against divisional opponents — two games per team, one at home and one on the road.
Four games against teams from a division within its conference — two games at home and two on the road.
Four games against teams from a division in the other conference — two games at home and two on the road.
Two games against teams from the two remaining divisions in its own conference — one game at home and one on the road. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
One game against a non-conference opponent from a division that the team is not scheduled to play. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season. This is a newer addition to the schedule after NFL owners approved a 17-game schedule ahead of the 2021 season.
While the 2022 NFL schedule has yet to be announced, each team already knows its opponents for next season.
Negative numbers (in American money line odds) are reserved for the favorite on the betting line and indicate how much you need to stake to win $100—you generally need to put down more to win $100 on the favorite. Conversely, positive numbers are attached to the underdog and refer to the amount you could win if you bet $100. You stand to make more money on positive odds, but the chances of a win are lower.
