Betting on NFL futures

Conference futures betting lets you wager on which teams will win their respective conference. Bets can be laid on the winning teams in both the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC). Odds are typically made available well before the start of the regular season, and are regularly updated throughout the season based on team performance.

Winning either of two NFL conferences requires a team to have good performances throughout both the regular season and playoffs, meaning consistency and strength in depth are vital for any teams in contention. A simple way to approach conference futures betting is to determine which of the four divisions in a conference you think is the strongest, as the best teams within that should be the best-placed to do well in the playoffs.

Just like conference futures, you can bet on divisional futures that let you wager on which teams will win each of the following eight divisions:

• AFC East

• AFC North

• AFC South

• AFC West

• NFC East

• NFC North

• NFC South

• NFC West

Like conference futures, these odds are regularly updated depending on team performance. However, divisional futures can be among the most challenging of bets, particularly for sports bettors who are just getting started. With each division featuring just four teams, and divisional rivals playing each other twice each season, the divisional standings are constantly changing. That means early season success can quickly be followed by late-season disappointment.

As a result, if you’re getting into divisional futures wagering, you must pay particular attention to trends and news that can impact their preferred teams’ prospects ahead of key matchups with divisional rivals.

MVP futures

The NFL’s biggest stars are often highlighted at the top of the odds in NFL MVP futures markets. With quarterbacks dominating this award in recent decades, you can expect to see the NFL’s top passers well represented in the odds throughout the season.

Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year futures

While the NFL MVP award is bestowed upon the player considered to be the most valuable in the league, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards are typically given to the players who produce the most impressive stats over the course of the season. As a result, sports bettors should pay special attention to the players who consistently perform over the course of a season when they are shopping for betting value in these futures.

Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year futures

Unlike other sports leagues, the NFL honors top rookies who produce impressive debut seasons on both sides of the ball. Typically, the early favorites for these markets are players who had notably good campaigns in their final season of college football. However, as any long-time observer will tell you, college success does not always translate into consistent NFL performances. This makes early wagering on Rookie of the Year winners one of the most difficult bets on the board.

To make the playoffs

Betting on whether a team will make the playoffs can be presented as a futures bet or a prop bet. In futures betting, you can simply place a bet that your team will make the playoffs. Conversely, in props betting, you will have the option to bet on a team to either make or miss the playoffs.

Individual player futures

A host of other futures betting options are available that focus on individual player performance, including wagering on which players will produce the most rushing, passing, or receiving yards, and who will throw the most interceptions.