There is no doubt that football is the most popular sport in the world. FIFA approximates that a shocking 265 million people including both men and women play football worldwide, and an astonishing 3.5 billion regard themselves as football fans. In fact, American football is the most popular sport in the USA with many different leagues including the NFL.
American football is the national pastime which combines physical play with strategic team sport. The aims of the game is for each team to score points by moving the football to the end zone of their opponents. On the other hand, the AFL refers to the Australian football league which is the only entirely professional men’s competition of Australian rules football.
Firstly, the NFL refers to the National Football League and it is the highest level of professional football in the United States. It was originally formed in 1920 and had 11 teams, but would be soon labelled as the NFL. As of 2021, there are around 32 teams which form the National Football League. Opposingly, there’s the Arena Football League, which was founded in 1987. The AFL is composed of 15 teams, and it was created by Jim Foster. This type of football is known as indoor American football which means that the games is played at a much faster pace.
Difference between the AFL and NFL
There are many other differences between the AFL and NFL. The NFL largely focuses on strategy where defence wins the championship whilst in the AFL the higher scores are of a great advantage for a team. Another difference is the size and scope of the actual arena which the players are stationed on. The field length is around 160 yards in the NFL with a 6-foot pointer border whilst in AFL, the field length much smaller at around 50 yards with a 48-inch high, foam-padded barrier.
There is also no score for defence in the NFL as the team has to play dead at the change of possession, whereas there are 2 points for defence in AFL. The NFL has an uncapped roster, but the AFL has an active as well as an inactive roster. There is an uncapped amount of substitutions available in the NFL whilst in the AFL, players may only substitute one time during every quarter. The Halftime is of 12 minutes with exceptions in the NFL, with 40 seconds between plays. However, in the AFL, halftime is 15 minutes with exceptions, along with 25 sec between plays.
Popularity of both sports
In terms of those who follow the leagues, the AFL tends to be more popular in Australia and New Zealand whilst the NFL gains it’s following in the USA. As the popularity of these sports have soared, so too has the tendency to place bets on them.
The amount of bets reflects the fanbase that each league has. For example, Australia and New Zealand are likely to place bets on the AFL and citizens in USA are likely to place bets on the NFL with more laws being relaxed. In this regards, there are many online sites where individuals can place their bets.
There are also a whole host of factors that a player can place their bet on. For example, the three most common football bets an individual can make on an NFL game are the point spread, moneyline or total. The point spread refers to betting on the margin of victory and between the numerical separation between the two teams who are playing. It essentially means that if you bet on a favourite, they will be require to win by more than the assigned spread. If you are betting on a moneyline in the NFL, you are simply picking which team will win the game. It is regarded as the simplest way to wager on professional football games. The total is also a popular bet for many people and it simply refers to betting on the total number of points scored in a certain game.
You can also bet on the AFL in several different ways. Firstly, you can take part in head-to-head betting which is similar to money line betting where you are picking the team which you think will win the match. Derivatives is also a way to bet in this game. It simply means side, line and total bets that are based on a half or quarter instead of a full game. It is a perfect method for those who are keen to make profit early on in the game without waiting until the game is over. There are also a myriad of proposition bets that you can make in the AFL. This can mean betting on player props, the first score of the game, the number of goals or the amount of behinds scored. Remember, if you are betting real money, it is important to do your research prior to placing your bet on online sites.
To conclude, from the format of the playing field to the size of the teams, there are a whole host of distinctions between the AFL and the NFL. Both sports leagues have been triumphant in assembling their own fan-bases. Although the AFL ceased in 2019, it is still regarded highly in the football community. Moreover, the NFL remains the most popular professional sports league even after 100 years of its creation.