NFL Betting Guide for Virginia
When discussing the betting industry in America, the NFL remains king in a variety of ways including sports betting. The sport is incredibly compelling especially among U.S. sports fans, and the NFL is certainly being helped by the continued increase in sports betting legalization across the country.
In this post, we will break down the basics of betting on the NFL in Virginia including whether it is legal in the state to bet on football games. Where should you go to find the best NFL betting apps? Plus, you can take a look at plenty of detailed information on betting the NFL whether you are just starting and have yet to place your first wager or if you’ve done some sports betting but want to learn more and polish your knowledge of the industry when it comes to betting on the NFL.
In addition to NFL betting, we will give you some key information about the league including the NFL’s season format, how to watch the games on TV or streaming, the history of the sport as it pertains to Virginia, and some statistics on teams who have made the Super Bowl.
And of course, we’ll get you some betting tips so you can develop your winning strategy before you place your next wager on the NFL.
Bet on NFL games in Virginia
Despite not having an NFL team in Virginia, there are plenty of fans of the sport inside the state. With such an interest in the NFL, this will lead to a solid number of bettors joining the sports gambling world both as entertainment and potential money-making investments from fans and those interested in sports betting as a whole.
Best NFL betting apps
It is unclear which sports betting apps will operate in Virginia, but here’s a look at some of the top apps when it comes to betting on the NFL with some information on each of them.
- DraftKings sportsbook app: One of the leaders in daily fantasy sports has become a major player in the sports betting industry. The sportsbook has one of the easiest-to-use apps out there.
- FanDuel sportsbook app: Like DraftKings, FanDuel started as one of the leaders in daily fantasy sports, but it is also making a name for itself as a mobile sportsbook. The sportsbook offers plenty of entertaining promotions for new and experienced users.
- BetMGM app: BetMGM features one of the most trusted sports betting brands in the world with easy-to-use software and years of experience running a popular sportsbook.
Keep an eye out for welcome bonuses as many sportsbooks offer new customers a variety of perks to signing up for their platform.
Is it legal to bet on the NFL in Virginia?
Yes. It is legal to bet on the NFL in Virginia. Betting on sports became legal in the state in April 2020, as the state legislature passed a sports betting bill. Sports betting in Virginia will be exclusive via mobile and online sportsbooks apps. Bettors will be able to bet anywhere within the state’s borders. They do not need to live in Virginia, but bettors must be physically located inside the state to legally place a bet.
While betting is legal, it has yet to launch in Virginia at this point, so rules and regulations have not been set yet. Virginia does not allow bets on in-state teams or games played within the state’s borders, though this doesn’t have much of an impact from an NFL perspective as it does not currently have an NFL team.
Most common types of NFL bets
For inexperienced bettors on the NFL, sportsbooks offer a variety of ways to bet on the league. However, three single-game bets are much more popular than the rest for bettors to wager on, and those include the moneyline, point spread, and point total (also known as Over/Under).
Let’s take a look at what these betting types mean with an example of each so you can be ready for your first or next wager or so you can at least hold a conversation with those who participate in betting on the NFL.
Betting on the moneyline is essentially betting on who wins the game. It doesn’t matter how many points a team wins by or how many points are scored. All that matters is the team you picked needs to simply win and if it doesn’t, you lose the wager.
NFL betting odds will vary depending on the expected outcome of the game from oddsmakers. Teams across the NFL have teams they are better than and teams they’re worse than. If you decide to bet on a team that is favored heavily against an inferior opponent, the payout would be less than it would be if you cashed in on a massive underdog during an NFL game.
For example, let’s say the Washington Football Team is expected to beat the Dallas Cowboys in the next game. Here’s what the moneyline odds might look like.
- Washington Football Team -310
- Dallas Cowboys +255
If you understand American betting odds, you’ll know the minus symbol typically will signify the favorite and the plus sign is the underdog in most cases. To calculate this, you would need to bet $310 to gain $100 if you chose Washington to win with -310 odds. However, if you expect Dallas to pull off the upset, a $100 bet would turn into $255 with the Cowboys at +255.
Point spread betting
Betting the point spread doesn’t necessarily mean betting the team that wins the game, but the amount of points won is the item to pay attention to. As we know, some NFL teams are better than others. Oddsmakers factor that in by giving the lesser team a head start by giving it a few points, and the bettor decides whether the favorite or the underdog will perform better than expectations.
In this example, let’s say the Carolina Panthers are slight favorites over the Atlanta Falcons in an upcoming matchup. Here’s what the point spread would likely look like.
- Atlanta Falcons +2.5
- Carolina Panthers -2.5
In this scenario, if you believe the Falcons will lose by less than 2.5 points or win outright, you’d take Atlanta. However, if you think the Panthers can win by more than 2.5, your wager is going to the side of Carolina.
Oddsmakers will try to make it so there is an action spread around evenly on both sides of the wager when sending out its point spread lines. The traditional odds number for the sports betting industry in point spreads is -110, so typically both sides of the point spread will be equivalent to betting $110 to gain $100.
Point total betting
Also referred to as the Over/Under, the point total does not factor in who wins or how much a team wins by. All that matters when betting the point total is the combined number of points scored in the game. Styles of play factor in a whole lot more when betting on whether a certain number of points will be scored or not.
Here is an NFL example of what the point total might look like in a game between the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions.
- Over 50
- Under 50
If you think the teams will combine to score more than 50 points, you’d take the over. If you expect there to be less than 50 points scored in the game, you’d bet on the under. Just like in point spreads, oddsmakers would ideally set the line so 50% of the action comes on each side. Also, the traditional odds for point totals are -110 just like point spreads.
While moneyline, point spread, and point totals are the most popular ways to bet on the NFL, futures betting is also an intriguing way to wager on the sport. Futures bets can be betting on something in the distant future, and the payouts could be quite high because so much can happen over a long period, and there are many possible outcomes to factor in.
Here’s an example of what the NFL MVP odds might look like as a futures bet.
- Russell Wilson +110
- Aaron Rodgers +450
- Patrick Mahomes +450
- Tom Brady +1200
- Kyler Murray +1600
That’s just a look at the top five, but sportsbooks will offer plenty of outcomes to choose from for sports bettors. Each of the top five NFL MVP candidates according to oddsmakers have a plus in front of the number because bets like these are so difficult to predict, making for a large profit if picked correctly.
Prop betting can also be another entertaining way to enjoy a sporting event. The Super Bowl is the king of sports betting in the U.S., and that includes a great deal of prop betting. Prop bets do not necessarily have to factor in the actual result of a game but can be looked at as side bets for a game to track.
Prop bets come in many different forms with some requiring some sort of skill, while others are complete blind luck. Luck-based prop bets might include what side of the coin it will land on during the pregame coin toss or the amount of time a national anthem singer takes to sing it before the game. If you want more skill-based wagers when betting on the NFL, it could be something like betting on how many receiving yards a particular player will have in the game, who will win the game’s MVP awards, or which player will score the first touchdown.
How does live betting work in football?
Live betting is an increasingly important part of sports betting in general, and the NFL offers plenty of options in this category. Live betting can also be called in-game betting, which allows bettors to make wagers after kickoff and while the game is going on. This is made easier by the improving technology of online sportsbooks and apps as fans can place wager right from their phones for a quick and easy process.
It can be an exhilarating way to bet on the NFL because of how quickly the lines move. Bettors need to be on their toes during a football game because oddsmakers are constantly moving the NFL betting lines at a rapid rate in response to whatever is happening on the field. Sports bettors can sometimes find an edge when analyzing how good coaches are at making halftime adjustments, so placing wagers at halftime is a popular way to go.
How the preseason, regular season and playoffs work
So how does a typical NFL season look? How many preseason games? What about the postseason format? Let’s take a look at how the NFL season plays out.
In a typical NFL season, there are four weeks of the preseason for 30 of the teams with two playing five preseason games. The two with extra gameplay in the Hall of Fame game held in early August in Canton, Ohio.
Each team plays 16 regular-season games with one bye week for a full 17-week season. After 17 weeks of play, 14 of the 32 teams advance to the NFL Playoffs with seven teams competing from each conference. In each conference, the four division winners advance with three wild card teams.
The team with the best overall record in each conference receives the No. 1 seed and has a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The rest of the teams will play each other in the wild card round with the No. 2 team playing No. 7, No. 3 playing No. 6, and No. 4 against No. 5 with the higher seeds playing on their home field.
The seeds reset each round, letting the top-seeded teams play the worst teams and have home-field advantage. After the wild card round comes the divisional round, followed by the conference championship weekend, which features the two remaining teams from each conference. The winner from the NFC will play the winner of the AFC in the Super Bowl to crown the champion. The Super Bowl is hosted at a neutral site determined years in advance.
How to watch/stream NFL games in Virginia
There are several ways to watch the NFL’s primetime matchups on television, but there are also ways to stream games on mobile devices as technology continues to increase in popularity. Let’s take a look at how NFL fans in Virginia can enjoy the sport’s primetime games.
- Sunday Night Football: The Sunday Night Football game is often the best game of the week and can be seen on NBC as well as the NBC Sports App.
- Monday Night Football: Monday Night Football airs on ESPN each week during the NFL’s regular season, and it can be streamed on the WatchESPN app.
- Thursday Night Football: The weekly Thursday Night Football game can be seen on TV at FOX and NFL Network while being streamed on Amazon.
Be sure to check your local listings and streaming options before getting ready for your NFL viewing.
Virginia NFL team
Virginia does not currently have an NFL team, though many people in the state cheer for the Washington Football Team. However, Washington’s practice facilities and headquarters are located in the state of Virginia.
The Washington Football Team may relocate to Virginia, and potentially the legalization of sports betting could play a part in where the team decides to build a new stadium if necessary.
How many times each team made the Super Bowl
Let’s take a look at some of the history of the NFL’s biggest game. There have been 54 Super Bowls, which started in 1967. Here’s a look at the franchises’ record in Super Bowls.
|Team||Super Bowl Wins||Super Bowl Losses|
|New England Patriots||6||5|
|San Francisco 49ers||5||2|
|Green Bay Packers||4||1|
|New York Giants||4||1|
|Las Vegas Raiders||3||2|
|Washington Football Team||3||2|
|Kansas City Chiefs||2||1|
|Los Angeles Rams||1||3|
|New Orleans Saints||1||0|
|New York Jets||1||0|
|Tampa Bay Buccaneers||1||0|
|Los Angeles Chargers||0||1|
NFL players born in Virginia
While the state of Virginia does not have an NFL franchise in its state, plenty of players currently in the NFL were born in Virginia. The list is too long to go through all of them, but those who were born in Virginia and are in the NFL include quarterback Tyrod Taylor, edge rusher Josh Allen, left tackle, Duane Brown, tackle Bobby Massie, and guard Quinton Spain.
Other NFL stars who are not currently in the NFL but were born in Virginia include Ronda Barber and Tiki Barber in addition to Darren Sharper, Michael Vick, and Plaxico Burress.
Tips for betting on the NFL
Now that you hopefully understand more about betting on the NFL in Virginia, let’s help you become a profitable sports bettor while also avoiding common mistakes when betting on the NFL.
How to develop your NFL betting strategy
Many elite NFL bettors have betting systems and strategies they utilize. They will likely put a ton of hours on the metrics, formulas, and analytics that drives their wagers. Whether you want to put in the time to do things like this is up to you, but you can choose what type of NFL bettor you want to be. If you want to simply use it as a way to entertain yourself while watching a football game, that’s great. If you want to spend more time and money and try to make this an additional income source for yourself, that’s fun too. It’s all up to the individual bettor.
For beginners, it makes sense to find your niche and focus on that. That might include researching and becoming an expert on a particular division and keep your mind focused on a select number of teams. For others, it could be analyzing what coaches do well adjusting and which ones do not. Live betting could be your particular spot of expertise. Identifying what you would be interested in finding out more about could be helpful as you begin your online NFL betting ventures.
Betting mistakes to avoid
Sports betting is designed to be fun and could be a money-making opportunity for some. For you to have a positive experience gambling on the NFL, here are some items to avoid after placing either your first wager or your next wager.
- Chasing your bets: A common thought among bettors, especially early on could be the idea of chasing your bets. After getting a pick wrong, you want to jump right in and bet the next game because of an emotional reaction to a tough betting loss. A good rule of thumb is if you would not have bet on the next game without a loss in your previous wager, you probably shouldn’t make the bet.
- Betting too much/betting every game: Never bet any amount you wouldn’t be comfortable losing. Gambling too much money on NFL games can be a real issue, and there are ways to get help. Pick your spots when deciding to wager on individual matchups and avoid going after each game on a Sunday.
- Betting while drunk/impaired: There are plenty of things you should not be doing while impaired on whatever it might be, and gambling is one of them. Waking up to realize you placed a wager on something you otherwise would not have and losing out on your hard-earned money is not where you want to be.