Monday Night Football Betting: Going Against the Public

Monday Night Football naturally attracts more betting action than the average NFL game, simply because so many more people watch Monday Night Football than typical football match ups. This increase in Monday Night Football betting action primarily derives from casual bettors of the public who want to place a wager on a game they know they will be watching. However, this type of Monday Night Football action creates the potential for a Monday Night Football betting line being placed to accommodate the many uninformed bettors, which consequently offers potential benefit in betting against the public with Monday Night Football.

Monday Night Football betting is popular with the public for the same reasons that Monday Night Football is popular—it is an exciting, weekly match up that allows fans to enjoy weeknight football. Because most of this Monday Night Football betting increase comes from a relatively unsophisticated public, the public will often bet primarily on the favored team, as opposed to the Monday Night Football underdog. Consequently, for at least some Monday Night Football match ups, it is possible that the lines makers setting the Monday Night Football betting odds will consider this public favoritism when setting the odds. For instance, if the Monday Night Football lines makers would normally set the odds for a game at -4, but know that many Monday Night Football bettors will bet on the favorite even with a higher line, then the lines makers may bump the line all the way to -5, making it more likely that these bettors will not win.

This possible scenario offers an excellent opportunity for the more astute Monday Night Football gamblers. If the Monday Night Football betting line has been set artificially high, then that provides an obvious reason to bet on the Monday Night Football underdog. Considering the example described above, the Monday Night Football underdog now only has to cover a +5 line, as opposed to a +4 line. A similar scenario may exist when Monday Night Football betting on the under. This is not to say that one should always bet on the underdog and the under in Monday Night Football. However, there is certainly reason to believe that betting against the public in Monday Night Football may provide special value in some match ups.