The new NFL season is officially underway. It’s expected to be another all-time classic, with the action set to conclude on Feb.9, 2025 at the Caesars Superdome. Yep, next year’s Super Bowl (Super Bowl LIX) will be taking place in New Orleans between the two yet-to-be-decided playoff winners from the AFC and NFC. In the buildup to then, countless fans will be watching all of the regular NFL season games and huge amounts of money will be put on the line.
It’s no secret that NFL betting has exploded over recent years. It’s now reached a level where 28% of NFL fans aged 18 to 29 bet over $1,000 every year on sports, showing just how popular it is with younger generations. At the start of September, a record-breaking 14,266 fans also entered ‘Circa Survivor’, a high-stakes NFL betting contest hosted by Circa Sports in Las Vegas. The requirement is a $1,000 buy-in if you want to be in with a chance at winning the $14.2 million prize — and thousands of fans jumped at the opportunity.
Clearly, NFL betting is on top. The American Gaming Association (AGA) even recently estimated that a record-breaking $35 billion will be legally wagered this NFL season, starting from Week 1 and going all the way up to next year’s Super Bowl. This isn’t hard to believe, either, as it was only last season when $26.7 billion was bet by fans (with a large chunk of this being on the Super Bowl LVIII final between the Chiefs and 49ers).
The Reasons Why $35 Billion Will Be Wagered On NFL Games This Season
PThe AGA projects that US adults will bet $35 billion on the NFL next season. It’s a crazy amount of money by any stretch of the imagination, signifying just how huge the NFL betting industry has become. And there are many different reasons why $35 billion is going to be bet on this season’s NFL action, including:
● The expansion of legal sports betting across the US
● More sports betting sites (e.g. BetMGM and FanDuel) have become widely accessible
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● NFL Fantasy Football popularity has skyrocketed
Back in 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) to be unconstitutional, which sent shockwaves through the industry. In simple terms, this ruling meant that individual states in the US could legalize sports betting if they wanted to. Since then, sports gambling has been legalized by a total 38 states, with more set to follow in the future. Unsurprisingly, this has given NFL betting a major boost in the six years that have followed the ruling.
There’s also the element of social media, too. Whenever it’s game week, countless NFL fans will jump on X and Instagram to interact with each other and share their betting predictions. Naturally, this has led to an even further rise in NFL betting, especially amongst Gen Z and Millenials. They see other like-minded fans engaging with betting culture on social media and therefore feel inclined to also take part in the fun.
Thrown on top of this, ad spend by betting companies is extremely high, despite a slight decrease over recent years. Whether you’re streaming an NFL game at home or scrolling social media, there’s a strong chance you’re going to see some kind of betting ad. And because these campaigns often include former NFL legends (just recently, Tom Brady appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for BetMGM) it makes them even more attractive to the NFL fans who see them.
Finally, NFL betting has been helped by decreased stigma in the US. Until recent times, sports betting still had a large stigma attached to it. However, it has slowly started to fade away following growing acceptance among the general US population. Specifically, the AGA reports that 75% of American adults now support legal sports betting, which is an increase from 73% the previous year. Each year that goes by, sports betting becomes more and more accepted — which is great news for all the NFL sportsbooks.
Which Sportsbooks Are Most Used By NFL Fans?
According to the experts at minimumdepositbettingsites.com a comparison site that looks at which sportsbooks offer the lowest minimum deposits, BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and bet365are some of the most popular sportsbooks amongst NFL fans. This is because these sites offer competitive NFL odds, all major bet types (e.g. parlays and futures) and the opportunity to get your hands on some excellent bonus offers, too. However, you need to be above the legal gambling age to sign-up with them, which is 18 or 21 in most states.
Is NFL Betting Legal?
Yes — NFL betting is currently legal on a state-by-state basis. Heading into 2025, it’s currently legal in 38 states, including Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey and New York. If you live in any of the legalized sports betting states, you have complete freedom to bet on this season’s NFL action, whether it’s on a Week 7 game or the Super Bowl LIX in 2025. Moving forward, it’s also expected that more states will continue to legalize sports betting due to the simple fact that it brings in huge amounts of tax revenue, especially in the NFL sector.
