Football remains one of the most popular sports for wagers, even though there is such a wide variety of sport bets available these days. For our Kiwi punters looking for football bets, the market can be slightly trickier, as online sportsbooks are strictly regulated by the New Zealand Racing Board. Fortunately for our NZ punters, many offshore bookmakers have now made it possible to place football bets outside of the country, making it perfectly legal.
However, online isn’t the only option, as there are plenty of TAB outlets where punters can place a variety of sports wagers.
The Beautiful Game
Football has enjoyed a long and interesting history around the world. Said to have been played as early as the 2nd and 3rd century in a variety of primitive forms, football is officially the most popular sport in the world, and is played by approximately 250 million people in 200 countries. The first official match of Association Football was played in 1863, and thus began the love affair between the world and the sport.
As football rose in popularity over the years, so did the opportunities for football bets.You would be hard-pressed to find an online sportsbook that didn’t offer football bets, and no self-respecting sportsbook would consider not offering it. Since football is such a popular sport, there is a huge variety of wagers that can be placed against individual matches and tournaments, and some online sportsbooks offer as many as 50 different types for punters to choose from.
Huge Betting Market
For many years there weren’t many options for football bets, and the most popular wager was which team would be crowned the victor. Fortunately for today’s Kiwi punters there is a massive betting market, and the options for wagers are virtually endless. As football is the most played game in the world, there are a variety of matches being played in different time zones and seasons all year round, which enables punters to log in at any time and be faced with a variety of options to choose from.
The sheer volume of football bets can be overwhelming at first, so we have waded through the maze of options and outline the most popular of the bunch.
Total Goals: this is a fun wager placed on how many goals will be scored in total in a given match, with multiple markets to choose from, each with their own odds.
Correct score: a wager placed on what the definite final score will be. This is a great way to get big winnings with low stakes, as many bookmakers offer fantastic odds on this type of wager.
First / last goal: a wager placed on which team will be the first or last to score a goal.
Outright / futures: a wager which is placed at the beginning of a big event such as a tournament or championship, and the punter must predict who will be the outright winner of the whole event.
Offshore Sportsbooks for NZ Punters
Due to the strict legislature that has been placed on online sportsbooks for New Zealand, many punters have been turning to offshore sportsbooks when looking for football bets. Fortunately placing wagers with these soccer betting sites is considered legal as they take place outside of New Zealand, and many online sportsbooks are now accepting Kiwi punters, and some even accept NZD. However, if you find a site that does not accept NZD, all major credit cards are accepted, and you can bet in the default currency of the site.
