Online sportsbooks offer NFL futures betting markets on long-term events, which are not determined by the result of a single game. Nothing has changed in terms of each team’s relative strengths, but you have the opportunity to bet at artificially inflated terms because the public is high on the 49ers.
However, later in the week, you have the opportunity to bet on the Giants +10.5. In the example used above, the sportsbooks think the 49ers deserve to be 8.5-point favorites over the Seahawks. This can provide you with opportunities to fade the public. That helps them spread out their risk by encouraging a similar volume of wagers on each team covering. Sportsbooks move the line to make it more appealing to bet on the unpopular team and less appealing to bet on the popular team. You might find that the Titans become 9.5-point favorites, 10-point favorites and then 10.5-point favorites. If most people bet on the Niners to cover, the sportsbooks will move the line.
For example, let’s say the San Francisco 49ers open the week as 8.5-point favorites against the Seattle Seahawks. Lines also change to reflect each team’s popularity among bettors.
