The NFL season is halfway complete, and more women are patronizing sportsbooks than expected. Did you know that more than 25% of sports bettors are women? Check out the rest of the top midseason headlines below!
Women's increasing involvement in NFL betting is not the only surprising discovery this season. Several results have also been eye-catching. Some of the stories dominating the headlines include Kansas City Chiefs dominance (8-0), the Washington Commanders as underdog surprise (7-2), Ravens QB Lamar Jackson for MVP, and the underperformance of the San Francisco 49ers (4-4).
However the major worry for Bookmakers is the Detroit Lions leading both the NFC and the North Division (7-1). Bettors have been cashing out on the Lions, leaving sportsbooks on the edge.
Christian Cipollini, BetMGM Trading Manager, spoke about this development as the NFL season enters its 10th week.
“We’ve seen continued betting interest on the NFL with 13% year-over-year growth at the midseason mark. Our bettors love scoring, and ‘anytime touchdown scorer’ has been our most popular prop with Derrick Henry in the lead for the most bet player. The Lions continue to be our worst outcome running at a league-best 7-1 against the spread. Needless to say, we’re rooting hard against the Lions as we start the second half of the season.”
BetMGM was our primary case study for tracking this season's NFL betting patterns. The gaming company's averaged a 31% female betting increase and a 76% ‘First Touchdown’ pick increase in the US and Canada.
The Week 6 showdown between the Bills and Jets holds the record for the game with the most placed bets. This enthralling affair saw an Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary TD at the half. The Bills eventually won 23-20.
888 Sports trader Oliver Vickers gave insight into how Week 6 went for sportsbooks.
“The week commencing 14th October matches we saw significant losses across all brands. Wouldn’t be far off our biggest ever payouts and that was seen across the whole industry. One customer won $75k from a total points accumulator or parlay. Receiving yards is getting the most traction as a bet builder market outside the usual main lines. Canada is our highest turnover country for American football.”
The Bills quarterback, Allen, has been a phenomenon and is currently a favorite to clinch the MVP prize. He led his team to a 7-2 season start and has a 105.8 passer rating, 17 TDs, 2001 yards passing, and two interceptions.
Here is what traders are saying about Allen and the NFL this season.
PointsBet Canada: “The public so far has been dominant at picking winners straight up, most likely due to a higher number of favorites winning versus what we’ve seen in previous seasons. We’re seeing more interest in same game parlays this year. And Josh Allen for MVP has been the most popular future throughout the season”
Neil Gibson from BetVictor: “Nine weeks in, and the four most popular teams that winning punters have latched onto for their spread parlays are the improving Commanders, the all-firing Lions, the ever popular Mahomes-led Chiefs and arguably the most surprising team (through first five weeks anyway), the Vikings. Combined they are 25-7 versus the spread and that has reflected in clients weekly wagers. Of course, there are underperforming popular teams too. Cowboys, Dolphins, Jets and Houston, despite leading their division, are combining at 10-23 versus the spread and have been good results.”
FanDuel: “We’re seeing great interest in the NFL season this year. At this midseason point, the five most popular players are Breece Hall, CeeDee Lamb, Josh Allen, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. Additionally, the most popular player in our catch a pass market is Travis Kelce and the 5 most popular players in our touchdown scorer market are Derrick Henry, CeeDee Lamb, Saquon Barkley, Breece Hall and Alvin Kamara.”