Once the NFL holds its annual draft many of the top offshore sportsbooks will begin to expand their offerings when it comes to betting odds for futures. It is very common to find Super Bowl futures posted almost a year in advance and the betting odds to win either the AFC Conference title or the NFC Conference title for the up-coming season are released fairly early as well. Once you get into late spring you will then find future odds posted for winning a division title and these types of bets can offer quite a bit a value to the savvy NFL bettor looking to cash-in on the games.
Betting division futures gives you a much more realistic chance of winning given that there are only four teams to choose from. Most of the betting odds released for winning a division title will single-out one team as the clear favorite. Teams like New England in the AFC East and Green Bay in the NFC North have basically perennial favorites to win for the past several years. The Patriots have won their division 12 of the past 13 seasons so even if there is a high-risk money line associated with picking them to win as the favorite, you would have still made quite a bit of money over the years. The Packers have been less of a sure thing with eight division titles over the past 14 seasons, but they still remain a solid bet each and every year.
Another great thing about betting NFL division title futures is that you have eight races to choose from. This gives you the opportunity to wait and see how the betting public reacts to the initial betting odds once they are first released. Tracking line movement is a big part of sports betting and when it comes to betting futures you have the luxury of an extended window of time to place your actual wagers. Jumping on a favorite right out the gate may not always be a good thing if you think that some serious money might start to come in on another team in that same division race. Betting a huge underdog is another way to go when there is no clear-cut favorite on the board.
Futures betting is not necessarily steeped in fact; rather the money that is bet is usually based on emotion. If Team A makes a big move in free agency or through an offseason trade, then the betting public will often react to that move by betting on that team to win its division. In reality, the addition of any player unless it would happen to be a MVP-caliber quarterback is not going to dramatically change a team’s fortunes for the upcoming season.
Before the start of the 2015 NFL regular season both Dallas and Philadelphia went back and forth on the futures board as the favorite to win the NFC East. The Cowboys started as clear favorites but that changed when the Eagles signed away their top running back as a free agent. Flash forward to the end of that season and both Dallas and Philadelphia combined for 11 wins while the team with the longest odds on the board Washington won the division at 9-7.
A good strategy for betting NFL division futures is to first allocate a small portion of your overall betting bankroll for these types of bets. Second, avoid the temptation to go big on any one team as anything can happen between now and opening day. Finally, unless you find a money line right off the bat that you really love, take the time to track the movement of the division futures odds over the course of the spring and summer. Once training camps start to open the actual team rosters are pretty much set so you will have a much better feel for how a particular team may fair that season.
