The National Football League is the most popular professional sports body in the United States to watch and to wager on, and the Super Bowl is the spectacle that serves as the cherry on top for fans at the end of each season. The playoffs build on and increase the interest carried over from the regular season, then the Super Bowl takes it into overdrive by attracting even more interest from casual viewers and bettors alike.
The final day of the football season is a holiday of sorts in the U.S., and online betting on the Super Bowl has become a significant part of the yearly tradition. Thanks to the progression of online sports betting, wagering on your mobile device or home computer isn’t only the most convenient way to get yourself in on the action, it’s also the way to ensure as many opportunities as possible to wind up a winner on Super Bowl Sunday.
It is completely legal to bet the Super Bowl online, players just need to physically in one of the states where wagering on professional athletics is legal. The laws and rules for Super Bowl Sunday are the same as the rest of the season and taking part is entirely dependent on geographical location.
The legality of betting on football is in constant flux as an increasing number of states are attempting to allow sports wagering. While only a few states allow for mobile wagering, nearly half the country is involved in legal sports betting in some way. In the coming year, more states will launch operations and several additional states will take additional steps in the state legislature after voters said ‘yes’ to legalizing during the November 2020 election.
Those aiming to go live in 2022 plan to do so by the time the next football season arrives, and understandably so since it dominates the sports gambling landscape.
Just like wagering throughout the season and the playoffs, choosing among Super Bowl betting sites is as crucial as making the correct picks. The sites and apps you use should be safe to use and have plenty of amenities to take advantage of. Here are some of the steps that go into finding the right websites if you’re in a state that legally allows gambling:
Seeing the interface layout, wagering options, promotions, and welcome bonuses offered can go a long way in determining where to sign up. One way to do this is to sign up for multiple sites and try each one out leading up to the Super Bowl to see what each one has to offer before fully committing to one with your entire bankroll.
If you don’t want to split your bankroll, there is another way to get most of the information outlined above. Platforms that rate sports betting sites are another strong option to get an all-encompassing look at each operator. BonusSeeker, for example, digs deep for the information needed to be a one-stop-shop for individual operator reviews and content featuring Super Bowl betting promotions and lines from each site.
Speak to bettors you know or on social media about which operators they use to wager on football. Whether it’s the odds, the markets or the promotions, there’s always a reason for loyalty to a given site. Those who gamble tend to speak candidly about the platform in which they use to place their bets, and this is another great way to get reliable information about an brand.
If you aren’t in a state with legal online sports betting, you can place legal sports picks at FendOff Sports. Read our FendOff Sports review for more information and get our exclusive welcome bonus below:
By the time the Super Bowl finally arrives, we are down to the final game of the season and some football bet types are no longer options. Conventional choices remain as there are odds on the moneyline, point spread and total, but props are oftentimes the most popular wagers during the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl prop bets are placed on very specific categories that sometimes aren’t directly tied to the results of the game. This is unlike conventional bets on the moneyline, point spread, and total, which are directly correlated to the final score. When it’s time for the Super Bowl, props take center stage, as all the best sportsbooks up the ante and offer hundreds of additional markets for the biggest game of the season. Below are just some of the categories in which of the wide range of prop wagers offered:
The Super Bowl may be the only day of the year when the more common football bet types take a back seat to other markets like props. With only one game to wager on, oddsmakers lines are tight while sharp and public action is all over the moneyline, point spread, and total. Value can be tough to find because of all the outside forces pulling on the line, which is part of what has made alternative betting markets so popular.
For most gamblers, NFL picks against the spread and moneyline selections both require patience and time to track line movement in the two weeks leading up to the game. Once the market settles in the final days before kickoff, lock in your wager on the game with the best possible price after shopping around for odds. For more in-depth info on how to bet on NFL, check out our betting guide!
Betting on the Super Bowl isn’t quite like gambling on a standard football game, or even a postseason game. It’s more an event than a game, surrounded by the spectacle and completely unpredictable. In collegiate athletics, the College Football Playoff National Championship and the NCAA Tournament final in basketball is the closest comparisons.
Plus, pro football is the only major American sport with a championship decided by just one game, and betting on it truly feels like a one-of-a-kind experience each season. When the first week of February rolls around, keep in mind these Super Bowl betting tips:
This is a tip for the regular season and playoffs that carries over into an effective NFL Super Bowl strategy as well. Super Bowl odds for favorites can inflate and lose value, so taking underdogs has been especially profitable in recent years. Counting Super Bowl XXXV, which closed the 2000 season, underdogs are 12-7-1 against the spread (XLIX in 2015 was a pick ‘em and had no spread/favorite). This goes for underdogs you feel can win the game outright, since only one of the previous winners lost the game but covered the number (Cardinals in XLIII).
Wagering on Super Bowl props can get overwhelming considering the seemingly endless number of markets that the best sportsbooks in the U.S. are offering. After looking at as many categories as you can handle, scale the list of ones you like down to just one or a couple and consider higher wagers on those. Selecting 10 or even eight or six prop bets is likely way too many to turn out a profit without one of them paying out in a huge way. Being selective is one of the keys to being profitable while handicapping the Super Bowl and dealing with props.
Definitely set a figure ahead of time for the amount of money you’re willing to gamble and stick to it. The game presents an opportunity for so many kinds of wagers once you add prop markets onto the conventional lines on the game itself. It’s very easy to get lost and irrationally spend far too much just because it’s the big game. Set a limit for yourself and prioritize your wagers to give the largest chunk of your bankroll to your Super Bowl best bet.
Teasers allow bettors to combine two or more sides (spreads and totals only) into one bet similar to a parlay. Each side is modified by a predetermined amount of points, and all sides must cover the spread in order for the wager to be successful. In football, teasers are six, 6.5 or seven points for each side.
Once you are familiar with both sides and come up with your read on the game, consider linking together a side and the total for a two-way teaser during the Super Bowl. The payouts aren’t ideal but sharp lines and heavy action can convince you to take the points and put them anywhere you want for a safer bet. This type of wager is a good one to pair with a longshot prop or something with a better price.
Another way to achieve the same goal is with alternate lines, which allow the bettor to choose whatever spread or total they want in exchange for modified odds.
A common alternative to traditional wagering is Super Bowl squares betting, which is an extremely fun way to create some rooting interest throughout the game. It’s very simple and serves as an easy way to get even the most novice fans interested in the game almost everybody is watching.
The Super Bowl squares betting pool begins with an empty 10×10 grid with 100 squares. One team is assigned the rows while the other team is assigned the columns, and participants choose their boxes until all are full. Then, numbers 0-9 are chosen at random to fill out the columns and rows, giving players their combinations. Download our Super Bowl boxes template and then read more below to learn about Super Bowl Squares pools run by US sportsbooks.
Official 2022 Super Bowl Squares Template Printable PDF – Print Your Squares
If you are looking to participate in a Super Bowl pool such as this one, check out our how to play football squares page. There, you can find the step by step instruction as well as the football square rules. For now, let’s use the box score from Super Bowl LII as an example to see how winning boxes are determined:
At the end of the first half, the score was 22-12 in favor of the Eagles. This means that the box that matched 2/Eagles and 2/Patriots was a winner. When the Eagles won 41-33, the final prize went to the box in the grid with 1/Eagles and 3/Patriots. In most pools, the final score of each quarter will yield a winner, with the halftime and final scores being the ones that garner the largest prizes.
Some sportsbooks offer free entry into a pool, each with its own unique twist on scoring. At DraftKings, the contest is called Big Game Squares and we are going to detail how to play below:
Photo Credit: Associated Press