Fantasy Football and Betting There are several ways that fans of football teams can bet on the outcome of the entirety of the games or individual activities. By using the real-world statistics, the fans can attempt to reason out who will win with the entire team picked and how the plays would work. Playing daily fantasy for money is legal by federal law in the United States, and also legal in Canada. Fantasy sports are, according to federal law, a game of skill, therefore they are not gambling. The law declaring fantasy sports are legal was first introduced in 1999 and the last action on it took place in 2006. Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread.Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. Online daily fantasy football is traditionally managed by companies running widespread betting pools that can involve thousands of players. In the United States, the two largest daily fantasy firms are DraftKings and FanDuel.
Mississippi sports betting is staying offline.
Three bills aiming to expand MS sports betting to mobile platforms in the state died in committee this week.
Mississippi was one of the first states to launch sports betting in 2018 but continues to be restricted to retail sportsbooks. Multiple mobile betting bills have failed in the years following legalization.
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A seismic shift?
Currently, mobile betting is allowed on a casino’s property in the state. None of the state’s commercial casinos are using the so-called “Mississippi mobile” option though.
The three failed bills would have altered the betting landscape by bringing sports betting in Mississippi online:
- SB 2396 would have allowed each casino operator an online sportsbook.
- SB 2732 and HB 1042 proposed expanding existing legislation to carry online betting statewide.
Mississippi sports betting revenue hamstrung
Since launching in August 2018, Mississippi has generated $103 million in sports betting revenue, and $12.4 million in taxes on $890 million wagered.
In 2020, the state’s wagering created more than $43 million in revenue and $5.2 million in taxes. Unless the state’s 24 casino operators can open up statewide mobile, a wealth of potential tax revenue will continue to go into the illegal market.
“Every day millions of Americans in 15 states have access to state-of-the-art mobile sportsbooks, allowing them to place bets on their favorite teams and leagues at home while fostering much-needed tax revenue,” Sen. Philip Moransaid in a release introducing SB 2732. “Unfortunately, Mississippi law does not authorize online sports betting, but this bill seeks to change that.
“Mississippi has been leaving money on the table by not authorizing online sports wagering, and it is time to modernize Mississippi’s gambling offerings and do what’s best for Mississippians.”
Maturing MS sports betting market
Even without the extra betting mobile would bring, Mississippi is watching its monthly handle grow, hitting an all-time high of $61.1 million in October 2020.
The first half of 2020 was slowed because of COVID-19. As sports returned in August, however, the state’s monthly handles continue to grow year-over-year.
Both November and December 2020 revenues more than doubled compared to 2019, drawing $8.1 million and $7.7 million respectively. Those numbers pale in comparison to markets with mobile wagering however.
Neighboring state potential
Neighboring Tennessee launched mobile-only betting in late 2020, while Alabama and Florida offer untapped potential. Arkansas has retail betting and Louisiana voters approved sports betting in November 2020.
In November and December, Tennessee brought in $5.4 million in taxes through its mobile betting.
The ability to draw potential customers from neighboring states is dwindling, however. Multiple states legislatures are looking at legalizing sports betting.
Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread. Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. We will explain what betting against the spread means below.
What is Betting Against The Spread?
For each NFL game the oddsmakers set a number of points in which the favored team is favored by. Bettors can then either choose for the favored team to win by more than the number of points set, or bet on the underdogs to lose by less than the number of points they are underdogs by or win the game straight up. For example, the spread could be set on the favored team at 6.5 points. This would mean in order for a bet on the favored team on the spread to win they would need to win by more than 6.5 points (7 or more) in order to win the bet. It also means that a bet on the underdog team would win if the underdogs lost by less than 6.5 points (6 or less) or won the game outright.
Example of NFL Spread Bet
Below is an example of what NFL spread betting would look like:
Matchup
- TeamsSpread
- Dallas Cowboys -2.5
- New York Giants +2-5
The negative (-) sign indicates that the Cowboys are the favorites, while the positive (+) sign indicates that the New York Giants are the underdogs. With the spread set at 2.5 points, a bet on the Cowboys would mean that they would have to win by more than 2.5 points (3 or more) in order for you to win that bet. A bet on New York would mean that the Giants would have to either lose by 2.5 or less points (2 or less) or win the game outright in order for your bet to win.
Here is another example with a screenshot taken from 5Dimes.eu during Week 3 of the 2013 NFL season:
Here you can see that the Rams are +3.5, while the Cowboys are -3.5. So for this example the Cowboys are 3.5 point favorites, while the Rams are underdogs of 3.5 points. If you were to bet on St Louis you would need them to lose by 3 or fewer points or just win the game outright. If you were to bet on Dallas you would need the Cowboys to win by 4 or more points.
If the Cowboys were to win by 3 points, lets say 30-27, any bets on the Rams +3.5 would win. Even though the Rams didn’t win the game they covered the spread of 3.5 points.
Can You Bet On Fantasy Football
Now if the Cowboys were to win by 4 points, lets say 31-27, the Cowboys have covered the spread and anyone who wagered on Dallas would win their bets.
Other NFL Spread Betting Information
You may often notice that the spread is sometimes set at an even number such as 3, 6 , 10, etc. In this case if the favored team won by the exact amount set for the spread the bet would be pushed, and all bets would be returned. For example, if the Patriots were 3 point favorites and they won by a FG (3 points) than this would results in a push, meaning no matter which side you bet on you would get your money returned to you.
The most common NFL spreads are usually set between about 2.5-10.5 points, but you will also almost always have games each week with spreads lower than 2.5 and higher than 10.5. In the event that the oddsmakers feel the game doesn’t need a spread, it would be set at 0 or what some call a pick’em (both teams are given even odds to win for this type of bet).
Online Fantasy Football Betting
The odds given on the spread are usually -110 unless otherwise noted. It is not uncommon to see one side of the spread being -105, with the other side being -115. If you don’t see any odds listed for each side of NFL spreads you are supposed to assume the odds are -110 on each. Not sure how to read NFL betting odds? Check out our Sports Betting Odds guide.
Fantasy Sports Betting Websites
Now that you know the basics of NFL spread betting you’ll want to check out our Sports Betting Strategy guide which has some great NFL strategy articles written by a professional bettor.