Legal USA Online Football Betting Sites

At this time there are not any legal USA based online football betting opportunities available. In addition, we're not really expecting legal online football wagering options which are licensed in the US to become available anytime soon. We don't like it, but that's the way it is for now. New Jersey has made a valid initial attempt at legalizing sports betting in their state, but so far they have been unsuccessful in pushing it through. This has not really been a problem for me because my preferred sportsbook brands are all licensed, regulated, and located offshore. The offshore sites I already frequent provide me with a perfectly legal and secure betting environment, all the betting lines I am interested in, and enough bonus offers and promotions to keep my wheels greased, boosting my betting power at least a little bit every time I visit.

I've got plenty of NFL, basketball, baseball and NCAA betting lines at my disposal, tons of props to choose from, plenty of wagering options, and great seasonal promotions and reload bonuses. Since I can access all of this legally from the sports book I've been playing at for years, it's not really a big deal for me to have to wait until lawmakers in the federal government and the individual states can sort things out. While the Federal Wire Act may stop things from moving forward here in the states, there are no federal laws which prohibit US players from participating in legally licensed and regulated sports wagering outside of the country. Should any industry updates and/or changes affect the status of legal football betting in the US, we will immediately update this information accordingly.

The following football betting sites have each been vetted by our team of sports betting professionals, and were found to exceed industry standards and provide a safe, legal, and high quality wagering environment for players to participate in. They were also found to be among the fastest paying sportsbooks, with feature rich offerings that set them apart from the mediocre brands. Most of them offer mobile sports betting options and generous bonuses and incentives.

Trusted Legal USA Football Betting Sites

The following sportsbooks offer some of the best football betting options we've found while reviewing many sports betting websites. Whether you prefer to bet on NFL, NCAAF or both, all of these sites have got you covered for the 2016/2017 season.

NFL Betting

The NFL was formed in 1920, and is comprised of 32 teams, divided equally between the NFC and AFC. It runs a 17 week regular season in which each team ends up playing 16 games total. Six teams from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, which is a single elimination championship tournament, ultimately leading to the Super Bowl in which the winner from each conference squares off for the Championship title. Team rosters may have up to 53 players, but only 46 of those players can be in active status. The National Football League is a rich American tradition, plain and simple. It is also a multi-billion dollar industry that is far reaching in many respects. While Americans and the NFL do have an age old love affair, the NFL is staunchly against US based online sports betting. In fact they are an active member of the law suit against New Jersey who is attempting to legalize online sports betting for their residents. Does this make me love my football any less? No way. Yes, I find the NFL as an organization a little self righteous on this topic, but since I'm happy with the legal offshore sports betting sites that I bet at, I'm not too hot over the whole thing. I will continue to follow the NFL each year, in all its glory, from pre-season events and news all the way through to the Super Bowl grand finale. If you'd like to get some information abut this season's teams, you can check out our Legal NFL Betting Guide.

Surprising Trivia Facts About the NFL

• Just two years after finishing their career, 78% of NFL players end up bankrupt


• A group of former NBA and NFL cheerleaders have formed a group to increase interest in science, with many members of the group being scientists themselves. They are referred to as the Science Cheerleaders. You can see what these beautiful and smart women are all about here:
  
  
  
• An NFL player who had only half a foot successfully kicked the longest field goal in history. In 1970 Tony Dempsey who played for the New Orleans Saints kicked a 63-yard field goal.


• The huddle formation that is used during football games was created to hide the sign language communication on the field that was necessary to accommodate deaf football players.


• The football is only actually in play for 11 minutes during a typical NFL football game.


• Kurt Warner, who is a beloved former NFL quarterback, anonymously pays the bill for one table each time he dines out. Nice guy!


• Deion Sanders holds two unique records never held by anyone else: He is the only person to hit an NFL touchdown and an MLB home run in the same week. He is also the only athlete to play in both the World Series and the Super Bowl.


• Edgar Allen Poe has had some influence on the NFL as the Baltimore Ravens were named after his popular work called 'The Raven."


• Nearly 600 cows are required in order to produce enough NFL footballs for one season.

College Football Betting

The first American college football game was in 1869, and it was between Rutgers University and Princeton. At first college football was considered somewhat dangerous. By the early 1900's there were several hundred deaths due to the sport, and even President Roosevelt got involved to find ways to make the sport safer (not a lot of protection in those days!) The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was born out of these concerns to help govern the sport and develop rules for it Originally they had the title Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, but changed it to the NCAA in 1910.

Unlike professional football players, college football players do not get paid a salary. They get their tuition, room & board, and an education, but they do not share in the billion dollar profits enjoyed by the colleges and the sports media. Recently, some players at Northwestern filed a petition in Chicago to form a union in order to gain some financial equity. No one knows where this will go, but it could change everything if more players across the country join.

Currently, the NCAA governs the rules and actions of the sport. There is no tournament at the end of the season, unlike college basketball that has their March Madness tournament. There were individual bowl games, however with this system the 2 top teams may never meet. One top team could play in one bowl game while the other top team could be contracted to participate in a completely different bowl game. To obtain some semblance of a final victor there is a Championship Bowl game, but no one is completely happy with the system. In the late 1990's, they developed a bowl system that rotated between the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. The teams were picked by the BCS which relied on computer generated results. This electronic process took into account polls, team stats, and strength of schedule. There are problems with this because the BCS may differ from the Coach's poll and Associated Press Poll. Also, the BSC has changed over the years in adding and subtracting formulas. The good news is that as the system continuously evolves, there will be a 4 team play-off next year. For those football fans who enjoy betting on college football, we've created a Legal college football betting guide to give you some insight for this season.

College Football Trivia

• The Heisman Trophy is given every year to the person voted the best player of the year in college football. The first Heisman was in 1935 and was given to Jay Berwanger.


• There is a College Football Hall of Fame, and it was established in 1955.


• The longest winning streak was Oklahoma, which won 47 games straight in the 1950's.


• The worst losing streak is by Prairie View College, which lost 80 games in a row in the 1990's.


• The biggest margin of victory came from a game where Georgia Tech beat Cumberland, by a score of 222-0 (the game was stopped short).

Football Betting Tips

• Home field advantage is very important. The stadium for The Seattle Seahawks was built to trap sound in the stadium and players have to wear ear plugs to block out the deafening noise. In college, stadiums are filled will home town family and friends and are very helpful to the home team. There are stadiums that have a mystique that intimidates players from opposing teams due to the history of dominating histories. Always factor in the home-town, legacy factors in football betting.


• Motivation. NFL players are very motivated by potential opportunities to participate in the Super Bowl, and they will fight hard to get there. College athletes want to go pro. Sometimes athletes will be more motivated to play better if there will be scouts present and it is a nationally televised game. Their careers can be decided by big games and the players know it. Watch the players who are in the news a lot and are eying the big league. They may contribute more on the big game.


• Watch the polls. This really applies more to college football than NFL football. I like the Coach's poll because they usually have a good eye as to who is playing the best football. The BCS poll is helpful because it is based on computer mathematics and other polls. Some prefer human evaluation over computers and vice versa.


• Watch the turnover ratio and team performances. A team may put up a lot of yards but if they lose the ball in a fumble in the end zone, it is not very helpful. Some teams put up big passing and rushing numbers but they lose the ball a lot. Find out how many turnovers they have per game and how many turnovers turn into points for the other team. In addition, some teams score big points on punt returns and kick-offs. Always check these numbers to see if they are good on a team's defense as well. Here you are looking for how many fumbles they force and how often they allow their opponents to score.


• Quick simple math. Do a simple comparison of points allowed verses points scored. If a team is scoring 40 points a game and only allowing 20 points per game, this is good. The team is good on both defense and offense. If they score 20 points per game and allow 40 points to be scored against them, they are poor in both offense and defense.


• Some people like to use statistical analysis for everything. There are trends you can watch to decide who is betting, when they are betting, and why they are betting. For example, you can find sports gambling sites that will present charts that follow betting trends on the games. If Syracuse is playing St. John's, and St. John's is +5, you may notice several days later that the St. John's betting line will have changed to +3. Some people will notice that bettors are backing one team more heavily and the numbers change to make the betting more attractive. This is called betting against or with the public. Many bettors find it helpful to watch these types of trends as they may provide more insight as to why the numbers are moving.