Aussie Rules football, officially the Australian Football League, has grown from niche sport to a major pursuit across Australia with a growing fanbase worldwide. The speed of the game is part of its appeal, as players kick, punch and run with the ball across huge fields that provide employment for cricket ovals in the winter.
It doesn’t take long to learn the basics of play, or how different point tallies are scored by kicks through the two sets of goals at each end of the field. Getting to know the different “footy” betting options is just as easy, if you like to bet on the sports you watch.
A Brief History Of Footy
The Victoria Football Association, founded in 1877, was once the state’s major Australian Rules football body. A breakaway group called the Victoria Football League later eclipsed the VFA in that role, and eventually withdrew itself from the National Football League, the sport’s federal governing body at the time, in the 1970s.
Savvy game scheduling and TV placement in the 1980s saw the VFL become the dominant body in the sport as the NFL dwindled and died, and in 1990 the VFL became the Australian Football League, to reflect the addition of four new states to the mix. There are now 18 teams that compete in the AFL: two each from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, and 10 sides based in Victoria.
Finding The Best Betting Sites
Almost any sports betting site online will offer AFL betting options, but stick to licensed, regulated sites that are legal to access in your country. This is for your own consumer protection.
Also stick to sites that have a solid reputation for treating customers fairly, with up-to-date security that uses 128-bit or even 256-bit encryption. You should only be betting with money you can afford to lose anyway, but you want to be doubly sure hackers can’t access your bank details.
The best sites also offer live streaming of AFL matches, so you can watch play as you bet. If you’re registered on a number of sites, you can cross-check for the best odds on any AFL bets you fancy. And don’t forget to check sites for promotions that can offer you more betting rewards on the same budget.
The final things to check out before committing to a site are the range of bets it offers, and the cash-out policy; both might have an effect on your AFL betting enjoyment.
Types Of Bets To Place
Standard futures bets are easy to place on AFL: straight win bets, over/under bets and spread bets, aka line bets, work exactly as they do in other sports. There are also a range of proposition bets related to individual and team performances.
Of course, props bets are also an exciting feature if you are betting in-game, which is why live streaming and live betting are handy features to have on the same site. That way, you can respond to any major game events by placing live props bets on the new possibilities they introduce.