The NFL season kicks off on Sep. 9 when the Dallas Cowboys head to Tampa Bay to take on the Super Bowl defending champion Buccaneers. Check out the best bookmaking strategies agents can use to manage NFL betting.
If you’re like most U.S.-based bookmakers, the NFL is the most important sports league to your bottom line. The National Football Association attracts more players and drives more action than any other league.
Bookies rely so much on the NFL that some pay per head agents see a player decline after the Super Bowl. Even an agent like Red saw a 30% player decline after football season.
Like every sportsbook platform agent in North America, Red is happy the NFL Season is finally here. Not only that, but the NFL drives action and profit even if a sportsbook operator doesn’t lift a finger.
But although that’s true, heading into the NFL season without a plan is a recipe for disaster. Never forget the single most crucial lesson agents learned from the 2016 Super Bowl. Pro football handicappers know how to take advantage of overlay lines.
Casual players bet Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers down to a -6 chalk. Pros waited until a few days before the Super Bowl and pounded the Broncos to +4.5 dogs.
Some of those pros not only scored on the spread, but they also scored on the moneyline. Keep the 2016 Super Bowl in your mind while reading this blog.
Enough talk about the past. Time to get to the sportsbook applications and features you can use to make this your most profitable NFL season ever.
Know the different NFL bets
Check out a list of the types of football bet options you can provide your clients.
Against the spread
ATS or against the spread wagers are the most typical. Players bet on a team to cover the spread. Underdogs are awarded points before kickoff.
Through Standard Live and Live Plus, your players can make bets on NFL games while they happen. Live Plus offers game trackers and video streams, creating platform stickiness.
Over/under total
Oddsmaking experts have become adept at setting NFL totals. Game totals work just like NFL future totals.
Players bet over or under the game total. If players expect a defensive game, they go under. If they believe both offenses score at will, they go over.
Moneyline
Every NFL game offers a moneyline option. Also called straight up wagers, moneyline NFL bets are the easiest to make. The player decides to bet on one team to beat the other.
For favorites, spread lines pay more than moneyline bets. For underdogs, the moneyline is a much bigger payout than the spread line.
Halftime line and quarter line props
At BossAction, we’re consistently looking to add platforms that boost action. One of our most recent additions is Premium Props.
The long-term goal is for BossAction agents to create and run player-level sites on par with the more prominent online sportsbooks. The short-term goal is to allow you to provide NFL halftime betting and quarter line options.
NFL star performance props
A successful bookie must offer more than the typical moneyline, total, and ATS option. Not only can players bet on halftime spreads and quarter lines through Premium Props, but they can also make NFL football betting plays on how well stars perform.
One of the most discussed NFL Week 1 games pits the Cleveland Browns versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
The game not only will show us which AFC power has the goods, but it will also set the tone for the winner and the loser for the rest of the season. Your players can make individual prop bets on Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham Jr., Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill.
Prop options will be available on every NFL game, which means Premium Props should drive significant action to your book.
Create an NFL betting strategy
Heading into NFL Week 1, bookie software agents must have a strategy in place. After the English Premier League, the National Football League attracts the most betting action worldwide.
The NFL is also a parity league, which means every game each week has a shot at becoming the most bet contest. In addition, bets can happen right before kickoff.
Pro horseplayers use this method, called scooping, to grab an entire pool. It can cripple the racebook.
Scooping attempts may not destroy your sportsbook, but they can hurt it. Check out a process many of our agents use to ensure they cut risk and protect profit during the NFL season.
NFL Betting Bookmaking Process
Check player reports – Search reports for your most active players. Then, try to find patterns in the information. Do some players target Dallas Cowboys games? Do you have a player that goes against the Baltimore Ravens on the road?
Set bet alerts – Set bet alerts on games your most active players are likely to bet. If your top players back a team for or against the spread, you’ll know.
Handicap games yourself – If you’ve never handicapped an NFL game, read this article from ESPN on how sharps fool the betting market. The example in the article is for a WNBA game. What David Purdum writes also applies to NBA and NFL spread lines.
You want to ensure fair NFL betting lines. The only way to do this is to handicap yourself.
If you see overlay or underlay odds, use your line mover and set a fair line. If you can’t set a suitable line, or don’t want to, consider taking the game off the board.
Use your layoff account – Your layoff account works just like a gambling account. You can make bets in your layoff account. Or you can use it to cut risk.
As a sportsbook owner, you don’t want to overuse the layoff account. Remember that during the NFL, your players will make against the spread bets. The layoff account allows you to pocket the fee, the juice you make on each ATS wager.
There are times, though, where you may want to allow bets to stand because a) you’ve handicapped the game and feel your player is on the wrong side of the spread, or b) you want to take the chance to make more profit than you would if you used your layoff account.
BossAction recently released a new user interface, which should help agents more easily manage players. We also offer reseller tools so you can manage any subs. Call a BossAction rep for a walk-through.
Payment integration via the Agent Payment Solution
We’ve saved the most critical bookmaker tip for last. If players have trouble paying you, or you have trouble paying players, it doesn’t matter what else you do.
The goal of running an online sportsbook is to make money. If you can’t efficiently keep cash flowing, you can’t profit. BossAction’s Agent Payment Solution allows you to make payments and collect from a single source.
You mustn’t create a Venmo, PayPal, or any other third-party account to pay your players. You can collect from the APS as well. Learn tips and how to become a bookie here.
One of the reasons we can create a platform like the Agent Payment Solution is because we use proprietary software. Using our software also allows us to offer the best referral program in the industry.
Import players to BossAction and pay $3 per head from the moment you activate to Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, 2022. Call 1-800-339-4108 for details.
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