Live NFL Betting: How To Live Bet on NFL Odds

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Line of scrimmage during an NFL football game between Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)
(AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)
BetMGM @BETMGM May 30, 2023, 12:41 PM

If an NFL game starts with the opening kickoff, why should NFL betting end at the opening kickoff? 

At the online sportsbook, it doesn’t; with live NFL betting, you can place bets on live NFL odds, including the spread, moneyline, and over/under total, from kickoff through the final minutes of every preseason, regular-season, and postseason game this season.

What’s Live NFL Betting?

Live betting is your ticket if you’re looking for an extra jolt of excitement while you watch NFL games.

Live sports betting is an extraordinary opportunity to add more meaning and bigger stakes to every play of every game regardless of the score, playoff stakes, or fantasy football implications.

For example, if the Detroit Lions are hosting the Green Bay Packers, the closing odds at BetMGM might be:

Spread: Packers -7 (-115), Lions +7 (-105)

Moneyline: Packers -360, Lions +280

Total: Over 45.5 (-110), Under 45.5 (-110)

Perhaps you bet $100 on the Packers’ moneyline but passed on the spread and total. 

Regardless of your pregame betting, while watching the game on TV, streaming it on your computer, or watching from the stands at Ford Field, you could place live bets throughout the game.

As soon as Mason Crosby’s opening kickoff went in the air, live NFL betting opened.

How to Live Bet on NFL Odds

It’s never been easier to live bet on NFL odds from your computer with online sports betting or your phone with mobile sports betting on the BetMGM Sportsbook app.

Maybe you watched the Lions capitalize on an Aaron Jones fumble with a Jared Goff touchdown run that brought them within one point, 7-6 (after a failed PAT attempt), with six minutes remaining in the first quarter. At this moment, the live NFL betting lines might’ve been:

Spread: Packers -6.5 (-110), Lions +6.5 (-110)

Moneyline: Packers -310, Lions +240

Total: Over 47.5 (-110), Under 47.5 (-110)

Despite the slim lead, you were confident the Packers would win after watching their eight-play touchdown drive minutes earlier, and the Lions gain three yards on two previous drives before Jones’ fumble led to the short-field score. 

As a result, you placed two live bets:

$100: Packers -6.5 (-110)
Potential Payout: $190.91

$100: Over 47.5 (-110)
Potential Payout: $190.91

Now holding three total tickets – the third being your pregame Packers’ moneyline wager – you watched the Packers build a 24-9 halftime lead en route to a 34-16 win.

With the 18-point win, both the pregame moneyline ticket and in-game spread ticket cashed. And with A.J. Dillon’s garbage-time touchdown run, the total surpassed 47.5 points, which cashed the in-game total bet. 

The three $100 bets returned a profit of $209.60.

Live Betting Parlays

Live NFL betting isn’t limited to straight bets. You can combine live odds into parlays for high-level excitement and potentially bigger payouts.

Packers-Lions might be one of eight games in the early time slot. Instead of, or in addition to, placing live bets on the Packers-Lions game, you could’ve added the Packers’ live spread bet to an NFL parlay with live bets from, for example, the Seattle Seahawks-Arizona Cardinals game and Denver Broncos-Las Vegas Raiders game.

Packers: -6.5 (-110)

Cardinals: -250 ML

Raiders: -1.5 (-110)

A $100 parlay on those three in-game bets could return $510.24 if all three hit.

If you’re new to sports betting, check out BetMGM’s parlay guide, “What is a Parlay?

BetMGM First Bet Offer $1,500