Football is a sport that never stops, with news even when no games are on. That is a big reason for the rise of popularity in NFL futures, which creates options for betting even when games are not on.
Everyone knows the difference between game and prop bets, but here is a simple breakdown. Game bets are odds and lines created specifically around the outcome of a matchup. These tend to be moneyline, spreads, and points totals. Prop bets are everything else that still consists of betting on NFL games but not the exact outcome of that matchup.
NFL future odds are an extension of prop bets. They also allow bettors to bet on teams in the offseason, trying to make predictions before the next regular season starts. Odds are created for the season, individual teams, and players on how they might perform over the season.
2024 NFL Season Future Odds and Lines
When most people imagine future NFL odds, they probably think of season futures. Season futures are probably the easiest to understand, which makes them the most popular.
Season futures are about predicting what will happen over the season, mainly focusing on the three trophies a team can win. Those are the two conference championships, in the NFC and AFC, and then the Super Bowl. With that, you can bet on Super Bowl Matchup Odds to increase your possible winnings, but it is also more difficult to predict.
What makes season futures odds so easy is that they are broken down pretty simply. For example, when betting on a team to win the Super Bowl, the BetUS sportsbook lists all 32 teams with odds next to them. The lower the odds, the higher the chance of that team winning the Super Bowl. That team is the favorite, according to the odds. You won’t have the biggest payout if you choose to bet on them, but they have the biggest chance of winning the Super Bowl.
However, because there are odds on every team in the league, you can even bet on the team with the highest odds to win the Super Bowl, and if it happens, that will be a massive payout. That doesn’t happen because the teams with the worst rosters usually have the highest odds, making it hard for them to be good enough to even make the playoffs. The best betting tip is finding a team with undervalued odds. A team with a good roster that most don’t expect to play well has the best value.
This is the same format for the conference, which might be the smarter thing to bet on. When betting on a Super Bowl winner, you must pick the best team out of 32. But for conferences, you only have to decide between 16 teams, lowering the odds but increasing your chances of winning.
That can be taken a step further when betting on divisions. Each conference has four divisions, with four teams. However, the odds of winning divisions have a little less value because usually, one team is the clear favorite, and they only have to be better than four others.
Team Futures Odds and Lines
Regarding team futures, there is a slight difference compared to season futures. While both odds are created around a team’s success, there is a difference. Both take into account a team’s season, but with team futures, it focuses even more on the team itself.
Two of the most popular team futures are NFL win totals and betting on a team to make the playoffs. What separates these from season futures is how the NFL lines are set, usually in the over/under format.
For example, win totals focus on how many wins one team may have. The sportsbook then creates a line based on the teams’ roster and the prior season’s success, trying to predict how many wins they will have. If the team has a good roster and made the playoffs the year before, the line could be set at 10 wins. Then, as the bettor, you look over the odds and bet on whether you believe the team will have more or less wins than what the line is set at.
The one thing that is good for betting on the win total is that there are lines on every team. That means you could bet on every team to have more or less wins based on the line the sportsbook created. That is compared to when you can only really back one team when making Super Bowl picks.
It’s very similar to betting on a team to make the playoffs. However, it might be much more straightforward. There is no line created. There are just odds of whether the team will make or miss the playoffs. When betting on a team’s future to make the playoffs, you have to ask yourself if this team has the talent to make the playoffs, then bet on that decision.
Player Futures Odds and Lines
Now, player NFL futures betting is a lot more complicated. The reason for that is you can bet on individual players to lead the league in stats, win awards, or just their final numbers. Betting on players’ stats is more like team futures, while betting on awards resembles season futures.
When betting on player season awards, the odds look like the season futures. There is a list of players who can win awards, such as MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and so on. Then, odds are created based on the likelihood of each player winning that award, just like with Super Bowl picks. You then have to pick one player to win the award. This also applies to season leaders in stats, picking one player to lead the league in passing yards, sacks, or touchdowns.
Then, looking at the individual player’s futures, we focus more on their stats for the season.
Again, similar to team futures, the sportsbooks come up with a line, and then you have to bet on whether you think that player will go over or under that line. That could be touchdowns or yards during the season.
The better the player, the higher the line is, but still, there will be odds and lines for just about every player and what stats they can get.
For example, quarterbacks will have over/under lines created about how many passing yards and touchdowns they can throw. That leads to more options to bet on, compared to award betting, when you have one player to pick.
