What Is the NFL Spread?

Many football fans are aware of the point spread for each game of the NFL season. Fans can create their own point spreads or follow spreads created by experts. In either case, point spreads have an important role in betting on NFL football.

  1. Definiton

    • In his article, "Beating the NFL Football Point Spread", Kevin Gimpel defines the point spread as: "a positive or negative real number (where the fractional part is limited to either 0 or 0.5) that represents the predicted difference between the away team’s score and the home team’s score." This means that the point spread is used to determine how the home team will fare against the away team, a prediction of how many points the home team will win or lose by.

    How it is Used

    • An NFL point spread is used by those who bet on NFL games. The point spread is set with a goal of enticing as many fans as possible to bet on NFL games, while keeping the ratio of bets on each team as close as possible. The point spread is set to evenly match the odds of unevenly matched NFL teams. This type of sports betting is common, though it is also considered risky because it is difficult to master.

    How it is Expressed

    • An NFL point spread is expressed as either a positive or negative number. A positive number on the NFL spread indicates that the home team is predicted to lose by that number. A negative number indicates that the home team is predicted to win by that number. The point spread can also be expressed in half points, such as 1.5 or 10.5.

    Cautions about the Point Spread

    • It's easy to get carried away when betting on NFL games. It's important to remember that the point spread is not thought of as something that can be mastered. There's risk in betting on football using the point spread. Remember, the NFL point spread was created to entice people to gamble on football games and should be treated as such.