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PrintWhile the fans at the stadium are hitting the restrooms, buying concessions, flipping through their iPhones or watching regular people fumble through field-goal kicking contests, bettors are breaking down the halftime lines on NFL games.
Halftime betting and live betting is becoming more and more popular, and that will only continue as sportsbooks both in Las Vegas and offshore keep increasing their offerings.
Over the weekend, we analyzed second-half totals in the NFL, discovering that 17, 24, 10 and 20 are the most common amount of points.
But what about the more common bet, second-half spreads?
We went back to 2007, looking at a sample of 1,280 games, to find the most common margins of victory for NFL teams in the second half.
The results are in the table below. A few highlights:
- Zero, 3, 4, 7 and 10 are by far the most popular, accounting for 51 percent of second-half margins of victory.
- The most common margins, in order: 7 (12.5 percent), 3 (12.2 percent), 10 (9.3 percent), 4 (9.0 percent) and zero (8.2 percent). Almost exactly one-third (34 percent) of second halves end at either 3, 7 or 10 points.
- Teams have won the second half by double digits only 39 percent of the time.
- The largest whooping a team has laid in the second half over the past five seasons is 35 points (twice).
* * *
MOST COMMON MARGINS OF VICTORY IN THE SECOND HALF OF NFL GAMES
| MOV | # GAMES | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 105 | 8.20% |
| 1 | 63 | 4.92% |
| 2 | 45 | 3.52% |
| 3 | 156 | 12.19% |
| 4 | 115 | 8.98% |
| 5 | 30 | 2.34% |
| 6 | 63 | 4.92% |
| 7 | 160 | 12.50% |
| 8 | 26 | 2.03% |
| 9 | 20 | 1.56% |
| 10 | 119 | 9.30% |
| 11 | 67 | 5.23% |
| 12 | 18 | 1.41% |
| 13 | 48 | 3.75% |
| 14 | 75 | 5.86% |
| 15 | 7 | 0.55% |
| 16 | 12 | 0.94% |
| 17 | 46 | 3.59% |
| 18 | 14 | 1.09% |
| 19 | 4 | 0.31% |
| 20 | 11 | 0.86% |
| 21 | 34 | 2.66% |
| 22 | 4 | 0.31% |
| 23 | 3 | 0.23% |
| 24 | 11 | 0.86% |
| 25 | 7 | 0.55% |
| 26 | 2 | 0.16% |
| 27 | 2 | 0.16% |
| 28 | 9 | 0.70% |
| 29 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 30 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 31 | 2 | 0.16% |
| 32 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 33 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 34 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 35 | 2 | 0.16% |
