There are actually a lot of misconceptions as to whether ot not online sports betting is legal in the United States. The fact is legal betting on NFL, Arena Football, CFL, NCAA and other college football action is alive and well in the United States. Nevada and Delaware have been grandfathered in, and if you live in one of those states, you can place a legal football wager at several brick-and-mortar institutions. But thanks to places like Costa Rica, Indian tribal communities in Canada, the United Kingdom and others, all US residents and visitors can legally bet on football games online. You just have to be sure the sportsbook you use is not US-owned and operated inside the physical United States. And you need to make sure that legal licensing and certification has been obtained. Once a sportsbook has been certified by a legal online gambling license provider, you as a US citizen can bet on your beloved college football or NFL pro team from your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop PC. And you can do so legally from anywhere in the United States with a reliable Internet connection. Our next section explains why.
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Governments love acronyms. And the UIGEA and PASPA acronyms created by the United States feds are applicable to legal online football betting. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, PASPA, in a nutshell outlawed US companies from offering sports betting. Special exemptions were made for areas of Oregon, Delaware and Montana, as well as the entire state of Nevada. If you are a US resident who wants to bet football online, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) further suppresses your gambling abilities. A quick description of this legislation shows a prohibition of United States gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments for bets and wagers over the Internet.
And even further back historically is the Federal Wire Act of 1961. That law disallows the operation of sports betting companies in the US. However, US law does not reach to other countries. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has consistently and repeatedly upheld the rights of non-US countries and jurisdictions to legally offer online football betting options for US residents. And so it remains today, with several legitimate Internet sportsbooks allowing you to bet NFL games online as a United States citizen.
Our USA Football Betting Laws section covers all this and more.
If you read the previous two sections, you understand that betting football games online is legal in the United States. You just have to stick to legitimately licensed Internet sportsbooks, like the top operators we have listed here on our site. If you are one of the literally millions of Americans that loves the sport of college football, whether NCAA Division I, II or III, or independent schools, you may want to bet college football online. The premium Internet sportsbooks which legally support US players offer competitive lines and odds, and cater to American college football bettors. You receive free bonus cash when you open up a "real money" account, and you can bet seasonal games or college football bowl games. You can even place a futures bet on who you think will win the College Football Playoff (CFP) system and take home the championship trophy, before the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision season even starts.
More about betting on college football legally.
The top two teams from the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference at the end of the regular season receive a first-round playoff bye in the NFL playoffs. An additional 4 teams from each conference also make the playoffs. This means the top team from each of the 4 divisions make the playoffs at the end of the regular season, as well as two wild-card teams from each conference. This gives you plenty of AFC and NFC opportunities to enjoy some legal NFL betting action. And don't discount the wild-card teams that barely sneak into the playoffs each year. 6 NFL wild-card teams have won the Super Bowl in the past, and when that happens, the payoff is big because of the long odds those teams are sporting at the end of the season.
Check out our guide to betting on the NFL playoffs legally.
Betting the NFC Championship online means trying to figure out who from the National Football Conference is going to make it to the Super Bowl. Unlike some playoff games, the NFC Championship generally is a very tough contest, and the score is usually pretty close. This is because these two teams have survived the entire regular season and the playoffs to get this far. There are no slouches here. Entering the 2016 – 2017 NFL season, 5 of the last 7, and 4 of the last 5, Super Bowl winners have been that season's NFC champion. The winner of the NFC Championship Game is presented with the George Halas trophy, named after the longtime owner and founder of the National Football League's Chicago Bears.
Legal NFC Championship Betting
Lamar Hunt was the founder of the American Football League, which merged with the NFL in 1970. He was also a longtime owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, and his namesake trophy is awarded to the winner of the AFC Championship game each year. Betting the AFC Championship online might go a little better for you if you realize that the Pittsburgh Steelers have appeared in the game 15 times, the Raiders have made 11 appearances, the New England Patriots 10 and the Denver Broncos 9. The Oakland Raiders appeared in the AFC championship 5 years in a row from 1973 to 1977, a record for most consecutive appearances. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most AFC Championship victories with 8, but are tied with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders for the most losses at 7.
Legal AFC Championship Betting
The 2015 Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers received $1 billion in legal wagers, just in Nevada. And betting the Super Bowl every year, whether online or off, is a pastime enjoyed by even casual National Football League fans. The Super Bowl has become such an entertainment spectacle, it transcends sports. An incredible 112.2 million US viewers watched Super Bowl 50, with a record 167 million United States viewers watching some portion of the 2014 Super Bowl broadcast. And when it comes to betting on football, there is no bigger or more popular wager than the Super Bowl. Advertisers pay more than $3 million for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl, because they understand that the world is watching. And many of those eyeballs have placed a wager on the outcome of the biggest football game of the year.
Learn where to bet on the superbowl legally and read interesting tidbits about the superbowl.
It's that time of year again and we're all licking our chops waiting to get into some football betting action. For betting this year, I plan on wagering on the Carolina Panthers team total to go over. After getting bruised in Superbowl 50, I have a feeling the Panthers will come together in a big way and will be out for blood. They were putting up big numbers last year anyways, and I think they will only improve. I will likely tread lighly though for the first few weeks until I can get a pulse on what the teams are capable of this year. I'm stoked though and wish everyone the best of luck this football season.
