What is a Prop Bet in Football?

Updated: March 11, 2023

What is a Prop bet in football?. When it comes to gambling on American football, there are many routes to go. The more traditional bets are point spread, money spread, and over/under bets. These three are going to be the first ones you see with any game.

Then you have more specific and sometimes crazier bets you can place on a football game. These are called props, or prop bets.

The spreads and over/under bets are on one specific thing: how much you win or lose by, who ultimately wins, and what the total score of the game is.

What is a Prop Bet in Football?

• The outcome of the coin toss.
• How many yards Patrick Mahomes throws for in the game?
• Will there be someone caught on camera in the stands that is wearing a jersey of a team not playing in the game?
• Will Tyreek Hill have a dropped pass?
• How many players will get injured and won’t return?

There are even stranger bets posted for the Super Bowl:

• The total number of Trump tweets on Feb 2.
• Amount of time it takes to sing National Anthem.
• What company airs the first commercial after the coin toss?
• What color of Gatorade will get dumped on the winning coach?

That’s not a lie. If there is anything that comes into your mind, it can be a prop bet.

How to Read a Prop Bet:

The hardest thing with a prop bet is reading it and understanding it correctly. Unlike spread bets, there can be more than just two options to bet on.

There is no real limit to how many lines (things to bet on) there are in a single prop bet.

Here is an example of an average-sized prop bet:

*This bet is fake and fabricated strictly for this example

First Running Back to have a 100-yard game in the postseason

• Derrick Henry -120
• Aaron Jones +110
• Ezekiel Elliot +250
• Joe Mixon +500
• James Connor +1000
• Rex Burkhead +2500
• LeSean McCoy +5000

Derrick Henry is the clear favorite in hitting the bet.

LeSean McCoy is the biggest longshot.

The odds are based on a $100 bet.

If you bet on Henry, you need to bet $120 to win $100. If you win, though, the winnings are $220.

If you bet $100 on McCoy, you win a total of $5,100.

With other types of bet, there is a push in the result of a tie.

With prop bets like this one, a push will occur if none of the runners get a 100-yard game or if the first one wasn’t on the list.

As a result of a push, you are refunded your wager.

There are prop bets that are similar to spread bets, only having two options and they are usually either “yes and no” or over-under based.

Yes and no option:

Will Patrick Mahomes beat his career-high for touchdowns in a single game?

Yes -210

No +300

Over-under based option:

Aaron Rodgers Passing Yards in the game

Over 220 -190

Under 220 +225

With prop bets, there is a different type of odds used at times.

Instead of the “+” and “-” odds, there could be ones like 2/1 or 10/3. These mean the same as “+’’ and “-” odds but are more commonly used overseas like the United Kingdom and Europe.

2/1 means +200. 10/11 means -110.

There are tons of calculators on the Internet that you can use to easily decipher what the given odds mean.

Live Prop Bets

You can also bet live on prop bets. These bets let you place a wager on every drive, red zone play, kick attempt, and sometimes on a specific down.

Here is an example:

How will Kansas City’s next drive end?

• Punt -100
• Field Goal +210
• Touchdown +350
• Turnover +525

Live prop bets change constantly and quite often. While a punt is the most likely to happen now, as the drive proceeds, the Chiefs could end up in the red zone, and now a field goal is at -140, and a punt is now +900.

Odds typically change within a matter of a minute or two during live betting.

There are other bets out there that are similar to prop bets, but calling them one would be a mistake.

Future Bets

They are called future bets.

Prop bets are based on a specific game. Future bets are ones that will take place in time.

Usually, they are made at the beginning of the season and deal with the league championship, stat leaders, or MVP.

You can bet on these up until a certain date.

How do you bet on NFL Props?

Prop bets are not as easy to find on betting sites as spreads are. You have to go to a specific tab on you click on the game you want. “Player Props” gives you prop bets such as:

Aaron Rodgers Passing yards for the game.

• Over 220 -115
• Under 220 +325

Anytime Touchdown Scorer (Player who carries or receives the ball in the endzone at any point during the game):

George Kittle +105

Emmanuel Sanders +220

San Francisco Defense or Special teams +550

Jimmy Garoppolo +800

Etc.

AJ Brown Longest reception in the game:

Over 45.5 yards -130

Under 45.5 yards +105

“Same Game Parlay” tab is where you can bet on several prop bets from the same game.

There are also tabs to bet on props in each quarter and half. These can all be found once you click on whichever game you choose.

Unless you bet under the “Same Game Parlay” (if the game has it), you can only place a wager on one bet per game.

You cannot bet on more than one thing in the same game.

You can bet on as many prop bets (one per game) as you like or as many as your betslip will allow.

The average number allowed on a betslip is 10-12. Some, like Fanduel Sportsbook, let you have betslip of 16 bets.