Training camp has started, and football fans all around the country are gearing up for another great season right around the corner. Watching football is one of the United States’ most popular pastimes, but ever since changes in legislation in 2018, betting on football has quickly risen in popularity.
Due to the popularity of the NFL in the U.S., almost every sportsbook offers online betting for football, but they’re not all equal. The over-saturation of sports gambling apps has made it somewhat challenging to find the right mobile sportsbook app for betting on football!
If you’re trying to find the best NFL betting apps for the upcoming season (which you must be if you’ve found your way here), then look no further than the guide below! This guide will show you the five best football betting apps, how we rated them, how to signup, betting resources they provide, and tips for better football bets!
5 Best Apps for Betting on Football March 2023
After going through the top 20 rated best mobile sportsbook apps, I’ve narrowed it down to five of the top football betting apps in the country. Each football gambling app below has been rated on its user interface, odds, betting options, payment methods, and promotional offers!
#1 FanDuel Sportsbook
The FanDuel Sportsbook app is my favorite football betting app for many reasons, but mainly because it has the best odds. FanDuel’s odds are top tier but get even better with the different daily odds boosts available!
FanDuel has a somewhat bland welcome bonus that gives new users a risk-free bet worth up to $1,000! Click the link below and sign up for an account to get this offer; no promo code is necessary.
Promo Code: N/A
Best Quality: Best odds
#2 DraftKings Sportsbook
DraftKings Sportsbook has one of the best online betting apps because of its large number of betting markets and betting options, particularly for football! Users can place bets on who will win the Super Bowl, who will score the first touchdown in a game, or even the exact score!
The DraftKings welcome bonus is the most unique on the list, containing a 20% deposit match worth up to $1,000. This bonus is helpful because it allows you to space out the free bets given to you rather than using the whole sum in one risk-free bet. To claim this offer, click the link below and sign up for an account!
Promo Code: N/A
Best Quality: Most football betting options
#3 PointsBet Sportsbook
PointsBet is probably my favorite overall mobile betting app on this list because of the phenomenal betting resources available to users! Up-to-date stats, matchup history, sports betting traffic history, and free picks from sharps are just some of the many excellent resources available.
PointsBet Sportsbook app has the best welcome bonus on the list, giving new users not one but two risk-free bets worth up to $2,000! Click the link below and use promo code “GUSA” during the registration process to receive this offer!
Promo Code: GUSA
Best Quality: Best welcome bonus
#4 Barstool Sportsbook
The Barstool Sportsbook is one of the most fun online sports betting apps because of its exciting and entertaining daily and weekly
promotions. Many personalities from the Barstool Sports media company receive odds boosts for promoted parlays so that you and your favorite podcasters can win together!
The Barstool Sportsbook welcome bonus comes as two separate bets. First, new users receive a $10 free bet for signing up and then a risk-free bet worth up to $1,000. Click the link below and sign up for an account to get these bonuses!
Promo Code: N/A
Best Quality: Most daily/weekly promotions
#5 Caesars Sportsbook
The Caesars Sportsbook might have the best-looking iPhone betting app I’ve ever seen (I can’t personally speak for their android betting apps because I haven’t used them) because of its clean and easy-to-use interface. Some mobile betting apps are hard to use and navigate through because of their immense depth of betting markets, but Caesars Sportsbook makes the process a breeze.
The welcome bonus for the Caesars Sportsbook is a first bet on Caesars up to $1,250! Click the link below and then use the promo code “MUBFULL” to get our exclusive bonus during registration!
Promo Code: MUBFULL
Best Quality: Best user interface
Football Betting Apps Rating Process
Finding the best football betting app is not a simple process because of the sheer number of mobile apps available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Some might have great betting options but terrible odds and promotions. Others could have great resources and a solid user interface, but if they don’t accept your payment method, you won’t be able to place bets.
Our job is to find you the best football betting apps out there, and we do that by taking the average of the categories below to determine how good each sportsbook is.
User Interface
Possibly the most crucial factor of the five, the user interface of each mobile sports betting app is categorized by how well the app is organized and how easy it is to use while not overstimulating (a common problem). Mobile sportsbooks, on average, offer around 14-18 different sports to bet on, which means it can be easy to clog the screen and confuse the user if it isn’t clear and concise.
Pictured below is the Caesars Sportsbook app, our highest-rated user interface mobile sports betting app from the list above.
It is our highest-rated user interface because of the clean and organized look it has, along with the fact the bet slip doesn’t jumble up the screen when adding bets. Only the best legal sportsbook apps look this good, while the rest look like the sportsbook below.
Promotional Offers
Promotional offers are not just a welcome bonus but include all potential free bets, daily odds boosts, and rewards programs that users can use to get more bang for their buck. Many mobile sports betting apps have a welcome bonus, but if they don’t have anything extra, kick them to the curb.
Users should search for an online sportsbook with plenty of daily odds boosts and free bet promotions because they’re a great way to get more for your money and your rewards! Rewards programs are essential because many sportsbooks give you rewards for every dollar you spend.
The Barstool Sportsbook app has the best daily/weekly promotions, including the ability to follow along with their media personalities at increased odds (pictured below) and earn free bets by completing challenges!
Odds and Betting Options
Having competitive odds and several betting options is a critical factor in choosing an excellent football betting app because betting on the moneyline over and over on terrible odds gets boring and can lose you money (or not win you enough). I look for live football betting, game props, same game parlays, and teasers when looking for a football betting app, but other options like flash bets and futures are always fun too!
Betting lines constantly change, so you should always compare odds between real money betting apps to get the best odds available. Review the table below for the difference in odds between sportsbooks to see the variation and patterns in who has the best odds.
| Event | FanDuel | DraftKings | PointsBet | Barstool | Caesars |
| Super Bowl Winner | Bills +650 | Bills +600 | Bills +650 | Bills +650 | Bills +575 |
| AFC Championship Winner | Bills +350 | Bills +300 | Bills +325 | Bills +300 | Bills +300 |
| NFC Championship Winner | Buccaneers +320 | Buccaneers +300 | Buccaneers +300 | Buccaneers +320 | Buccaneers +325 |
Payment Methods
Payment methods are another vital factor for online sportsbooks because if it doesn’t have convenient ways to make deposits and withdrawals, there’s no point in using them. The most common payment methods on the sportsbook apps above consist of:
- Debit and Credit Cards (Deposit only)
- Online bank transfer
- e-check
- PayPal
- Play+ Prepaid Cards
- Skrill
- PayNearMe
- Apple Pay
Many online sportsbooks also have retail locations inside casinos where users can fund their accounts! Remember to check your sportsbook for retail locations near you!
Included Resources
Many sportsbook apps have different resources throughout their app to help users make better and more educated bets. These resources can include information on how the betting lines are changing, team or individual statistics, matchup history, or even suggested picks from sharps with their win percentage posted.
All of the resources listed above could and should be used by every sports bettor to help make them better gamblers. Betting blind (or without any knowledge of the event) is a pretty foolish (albeit fun if you win) tactic. Doing a few minutes of research can drastically change your win percentage and increase winnings!
PointsBet takes in-app resources to the next level due to its partnership with NBC Sports, which allows users access to live streams for select events and live stats for most. PointsBet also features a Quick Parlay option that allows users to select from different sports and specific time slots easily.
Getting Started with Football Betting Apps
After you’ve read through this guide and decided on the right betting app to fit your needs, you’ll need to go to your respective app stores to search for it. Be sure it doesn’t have multiple apps for different states or services (like online casinos or daily fantasy sports), and be sure it’s compatible with your mobile device.
After the app is downloaded, you need to open it to sign up for an account with a few details to verify your identity. The process usually only takes a few minutes to complete and will require you to create a password to use during signing in.
The following personal information is required by most online sports betting apps:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Home address
- Gender
Sometimes sportsbooks require new users to upload a photo of their driver’s license or passport to finish verifying their account before they can make a withdrawal. Don’t worry about your private information or documentation; it is entirely secure and insured by your local state gaming commission!
Football Betting Types
Several different types of bets are available to be made on different sportsbooks, so if you’re not sure where to start, let me explain them to you.
The Basics (moneyline, spread, and over/under)
The most common forms of betting on every sportsbook app are the moneyline, the spread, and the over/under. These bets will generally be available next to the event, as pictured below.
A moneyline bet is a simple bet on who will win the event, with odds that reflect it. A favorite will always have the worst of the two odds for a moneyline bet, with the underdogs having better odds to reflect their likelihood of winning.
Spread bets are similar to a moneyline bet in the sense you pick the team who wins; however, the odds of winning will be reflected in a point spread that either gives a cushion or takes away points. Favorites will always have a negative point spread, meaning the points will be taken away from the result. For example, if seven points favor the Cowboys, they would need to win by at least eight for the ticket to cash.
Over/under bets are bets placed on whether the final score of the game will be over or under the points total given. In football, offensive and defensive matchups mainly dictate these lines. However, factors like weather and injuries are also taken into consideration. Like point spread betting, over/under bets typically have the same odds of -110.
Prop Bets
Prop betting in football is one of the most fun types of betting in all sports! Almost anything you can think of can be bet on through prop betting, such as who will score the first touchdown, who will score a touchdown at all, and over/under bets for yardage or receptions.
Prop bets during more significant events like the Super Bowl can even consist of the result of the coin toss, the color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach, and even over/under bets on how long the national anthem will take!
The top-tier online sports betting apps will allow users to combine prop bets into a “same game parlay” for huge betting combinations for more enormous odds!
Futures
Future bets are exactly what they sound like, bets on what will happen in the future. Future bets for football can be placed on who will win the Super Bowl, who will win the AFC/NFC Championship, and who will win their respective divisions. Users can even bet on the over/under for the total number of wins a team will get throughout the regular season (so you can root for a team or even be a hater)!
Football Live Betting Apps
It’s 2023; live betting should be an absolute requirement for all legal sports betting apps. Live betting allows users to not only place bets while the event is in progress but nine times out of ten means users can use cash-out features before the event is complete.
Momentum swings in football happen often, and if you have a good enough feel for the game, you can sometimes tell who’s going to win regardless of the current score. Live betting allows users to do something called “hedging” their bets by making live bets against their original wager to win some of their money back.
Most sportsbooks offer live betting, especially for the NFL, but it is not guaranteed by all of them, meaning if you’re using one that doesn’t have this vital feature, run the other way.
Football Betting Apps with Free Bets
All the sportsbooks from the list above feature free bet options as their welcome bonus in two ways. First, most of them feature risk-free bets, which means that you will need to place a bet with your own money, but if it loses, you’ll receive an equal free bet credit to your account to be used on a second bet.
Second, DraftKings offers a 20% deposit match worth up to $1,000 for new users (pictured below), meaning new customers receive bonus cash for free bets from their initial deposit. Users can use this bonus cash however they’d like, but they cannot withdraw it.
It is also possible for users to earn free bets from their online sports betting apps by following directions for different promotions. For example, DraftKings featured a promotion last season where users received a $10 free bet for placing a $10 parlay on NFL games during week one.
If you’re interested in getting free bets from welcome bonuses, check my top five above for the best bonus on the list!
NFL Events and Key Dates to Bet On
The Super Bowl is still far ahead, and we will update this page as soon as information is released. Additional resources for the NFL can be found here.
Football Betting Strategy & Tips
Now for my favorite part of the guide; strategies and tips to help you become a better NFL gambler! This section will teach you the research needed to make educated bets, strategies for specific kinds of bets, and how to spot a potential underdog win in live football betting.
Before placing any bets, be sure to do your research on the matchup before you determine the winner. The sportsbooks in the list above all feature a plethora of statistics and matchup data that can help determine who might win. When looking at these stats, consider the strengths and weaknesses of both teams by dynamic players to see who has the personnel edge and bet accordingly.
When placing bets on football, remember the time slot of the bets you are making. I prefer to place a three-leg parlay consisting of two games from the early slate and the last pick from the last game of the day. This time in between allows me to determine whether or not I want to cash out or even hedge my bet.
Be sure to watch the game live when placing an in-play bet on an NFL game because of the potential swings in momentum. A football game can change in a single play, and when it does, life seems to be sucked out of the other team. Identifying these momentum swings and live betting that team is a great way to get picks at better than average odds!
Bonus tip for extra fun!
I enjoy placing a parlay bet on anytime touchdown scorers for each game per time slot every Sunday! It’s a great way to enjoy NFL RedZone a little more, and they hit more frequently than you might think if you choose the most sensible option from every game.
Real Money Football Betting Apps FAQs
Is football betting legal in the U.S.?
Yes! Ever since federal legislation changed in 2018, citizens of the United States have been able to place bets on football if their state laws allow online sports betting.
Which is the best betting app for football?
In my opinion, FanDuel is the best app for football and NFL betting because it is top tier in every characteristic we consider. The user interface is phenomenal; it has competitive odds and tons of betting options, the promotions and daily odds boosts are great, and it has plenty of safe and convenient payment options.
How much is the minimum I can bet on football?
The short answer is it depends on the sportsbook app. However, most sportsbooks accept bets as low as 50 cents!
What is the best offer for Football betting?
The best welcome bonus for NFL betting is the PointsBet bonus of two risk-free bets worth up to $2,000. This bonus gives users four chances to win at double the standard value!
What other football leagues can I bet?
It depends on the sportsbook, but most sports bettors can bet on the NFL, XFL, NCAA football, and the Canadian Football League from the larger apps.
