For how small a sport it is, Canadian football is actually surprisingly popular. There is a huge portion of the Canadian public that follows the CFL just as closely, and passionately, as US residents follow the NFL. The sport may not have the international audience that its American sibling has, but within Canada’s borders it is incredibly popular.
Canadian football also has a pretty large audience online. In large part, we have online sportsbooks and casinos to thank for this, as they’ve elevated the popularity of quite a few niche sports, including Canadian football. The good thing about online bookies is that they attract an international audience. However, this means that there are a lot of newcomers who may not know anything about the CFL.
The Canadian Football League
For those who don’t know, the Canadian Football League is the main governing body behind Canadian football in the Great White North. The CFL handles the rules, regulations, and organizes the professional tournaments that relate to Canadian football. In other words, when you are betting on Canadian football you are more than likely betting on CFL-sponsored matches.
Speaking of betting on the CFL, we figure that, since a lot of outsiders get introduced to Canadian football through betting, that it would be beneficial to give a short introduction. Especially for those who like to wager on the sport. Now, most bettors already know about how football strategy and poker strategies have a lot of things in common. But, just how familiar are they with betting on Canadian football?
The Basic Terms
Before we delve into the nitty gritty, we have to talk about the basic terms that every fan of the CFL needs to know. European fans may not be aware, but there is a lot of crossover between American and Canadian football, so you might just notice a few parallels here. That being said, the two sports are unique in some ways, which is also important to note. So, without further ado, let us look at some basic terms.
- Offense: the offense in CFL consists of five unique positions. The quarterback is usually the star of the show, as is the case in American football. Then, we have the running back, the wide receiver, the slotback (SB), and the offensive line.
- Defense: the defense in Canadian football consists of three unique positions. Defensive linebacker, and the defensive line and back. These are the players responsible for defending the goal, and ensuring that the opposite team does not score.
- Special: The three special positions are the kicker, punter, and returner. A kicker’s job is to kick the ball into a field goal, and score extra points, whereas a punter’s job is to punt the ball to the opposing team. A returner has to catch and return kickoffs and punts.
As we said, these positions are not unique to Canadian football. In fact, they are common in all forms of gridiron, not just Canadian, and its American counterpart. So, if you are reading this having never seen a CFL game, but are familiar with the NFL, you might just have an easier time of getting into its northern counterpart. That being said, even those with zero experience can easily get into Canadian football, and enjoy a game or two.
The Betting Terms
Now that we are familiar with the basics, it is time to take a look at the betting terms. As we said, betting on Canadian football is getting a lot of traction at online bookies, and a lot of people want to know more about the sport. So, if you are new to the CFL, let us look at all of the different betting options that are available to you, and other bettors.
The first category we want to look at is classic bets. These are just bet options that you’ll find for any sport that involves a team. For example, a match bet is a pretty simple wager that involves putting money on the team that you believe will win the upcoming match. Most sportsbooks offer match bets, and point spread wagers, which are a bit more complicated, but still easy to understand.
The prop bets is where it gets interesting. For those who don’t know, prop bets differ from match bets in that they don’t involve a wager on the outcome of a game. Instead, they are wagers on a possibility that might occur during a match. Let us take a look at some CFL-specific prop bets that you might come across when betting online.
- Coin Toss: Before a game of Canadian football the referee tosses a coin to see which team gets first ball. This is a wager on which side the coin will land on.
- Total Field Goals: A field goal, in Canadian football is a goal scored by a placed kick, much like in American football. This prop bet involves wagering on the total amount of field goals scored during a match, by both teams.
- Total Turnovers: A turnover usually refers to an interception or a fumble. So, the bet here refers to how many turnovers will occur during a match.
These are not the only CFL-specific props, however, they are three of the most popular ones. Of course, there are the prop bets that you might find in other sports, such as “How many goals will X player score,” or “Which team will score first?” But, those are common for games like football, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey as well. The ones we wanted to focus on here were the unique ones.
Closing Thoughts
Canadian football may not be the most popular sport. In fact, in terms of worldwide success it lags behind even American football. However, for as small as it is, the audience behind it is deeply passionate and impressively dedicated. That is why the sport continues to grow, and continuously garners a larger following online. We hope that this article can help introduce new people to this wonderful gridiron variant.
