Aussie Rules Football is hugely popular in Australia and if you’re looking for the best AFL Betting Sites, you’ve come to the right place. This will be your ultimate betting guide for the AFL as it will discuss all the important features of AFL betting that you need to know about. Which will include betting strategies & tips, features to look out, what promotions are offered, who has the AFL best odds and much more.
Let’s get started! ➡️
The AFL stands for Australia Football League and is a Aussie Rules Football competition that is played in Australia. The season starts each year in March and ends with the finals series in September. During the regular season, each team will play 22 games and every team will play against each other at least once.
The league consists of 18 teams at the moment that are located around the country. Most teams are based in the state of Victoria since this is where Aussie Rules Football was born in the late 1800s. Some teams have been established for over 100 years, such as Collingwood and Carlton. There are newer teams that have entered the competition over the last 20 years as well, with the last being the Gold Coast Suns.
| Team Name | Home Ground |
Team Name Adelaide Crows | Home Ground Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
Team Name Brisbane Lions | Home Ground ‘Gabba, Brisbane |
Team Name Carlton Blues | Home Ground Marvel Stadium, Melbourne |
Team Name Collingwood Magpies | Home Ground MCG, Melbourne |
Team Name Essendon Bombers | Home Ground MCG, Melbourne |
Team Name Fremantle Dockers | Home Ground Optus Stadium, Perth |
Team Name Geelong Cats | Home Ground GMHBA Stadium, Geelong |
Team Name Gold Coast Suns | Home Ground Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast |
Team Name Greater Western Sydney Giants | Home Ground Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney |
Team Name Hawthorn Hawks | Home Ground MCG, Victoria |
Team Name Melbourne Demons | Home Ground MCG, Victoria |
Team Name North Melbourne Kangaroos | Home Ground Marvel Stadium, Melbourne |
Team Name Port Adelaide Power | Home Ground Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
Team Name Richmond Tigers | Home Ground MCG, Victoria |
Team Name St Kilda Saints | Home Ground Marvel Stadium, Victoria |
Team Name Sydney Swans | Home Ground SCG, Sydney |
Team Name West Coast Eagles | Home Ground Optus Stadium, Perth |
Team Name Western Bulldogs | Home Ground Marvel Stadium, Victoria |
There is an AFL ladder that determines which teams will play in the finals. After a game has been completed, the winning side will be awarded 4 competition points. There are draws in the AFL that happen if both sides finish on the same points at the end of the four quarters and this will give each team two competition points. At the end of the regular season, the top 8 teams in terms of competition points will compete in the finals for the chance to win the AFL Grand Final.
Here is how the finals structure works:
Qualifying / Elimination finals
Semi Finals
Grand Final
Generally, it’s very common for certain teams to dominate certain periods of the AFL if they have used the draft, free agency and salary cap to their advantage. So it’s a sound AFL betting strategy to bet on these types of teams during the regular season, in futures markets and in the crucial finals. At the moment, the most consistent teams that are reaching the finals include the Geelong Cats, Richmond Tigers and Brisbane Lions
There is a draft system in the AFL and this takes place after the full season, usually in November. The team that finished last in the previous season will pick first and like the NFL or NBA, the #1 pick is a huge deal. Players will be mainly be drafted from the Under 18 competition and the higher draft picks will be expected to play a larger role in their drafted team for the next season. Usually, the highest draft picks are great selections for the Rising star medal at the end of the season.
Along with the draft, the AFL has adopted the free agency model of major American Sports in the last couple of years. Generally, most Australian players are loyal to their current clubs and this mean’s there isn’t a huge amount of player movement during this period compared to the NBA or NFL. Most of the time, a player will seek a trade to a new team if they’re looking to move home as a lot of players are drafted to interstate teams but may want to move closer to their family members again. It’s also common for fringe players to seek a new team for better playing time opportunities.
In recent times, the AFL has established a Women’s competition and it’s possible to bet on AFLW games at the majority of betting sites in Australia. The AFLW league is continually expanding with new teams and the league usually takes place in January/February every year.
Aussie Rules is a unique sport and there are definitely some betting strategies that can only be applied to the AFL. However, there are common strategies that you can employ from other sports as well.
Let’s run through some of our best strategies that you can use to bet on the AFL.
Here are a couple of major AFL sports betting rules to be aware of. Keep in mind, these should be used as a guide because some bookmakers will have slightly different rules. This can be found in the terms and conditions on their website.
It’s a good idea to sign up with multiple betting sites to get the AFL best odds available and take advantage of different features. But there are sites that are better than others and our goal is to provide you with the right advice before creating an account.
In the below section, let’s discuss the top AFL betting sites.
At My Betting Australia, we aim to spend time reviewing and comparing the best bookmakers so you don’t need to. We look at the overall features of certain betting sites and provide honest information for our readers.
As a result, we can be considered experts and can help you save time in search of the best betting sites for your needs.
In the below list, let’s go through the most important features you need to be aware of in your search for the best AFL betting sites.
During the AFL season, betting sites will be battling for your attention and this can be used to your advantage. As a result, there are plenty of opportunities to make more money from your bets with enticing betting offers and promotions.
The majority of betting sites in Australia will offer promotions for their members and it’s definitely recommended to sign up with these types of websites. Otherwise, you may be wasting your time or not winning the potential money you deserve.
AFL betting sites will aim to target the most popular betting events with their promotions. This includes AFL Grand Final, the Brownlow medal and the highly-anticipated finals series.
In the below list, let’s talk about some of the common promotions or offers that have been regularly added to betting sites in the last few years.
There are features that are not so important and others that can define a betting site. In this section, we’ll aim to provide an overview of the top AFL betting sites features that you need to be aware of before creating an account.
As the AFL is one of the most popular leagues in Australia, betting sites will run enticing promotions during the season to cater for this popularity. So it’s recommended to find a betting site with promotions that you can take advantage of.
Similar to any sports betting, you’ll want the highest possible odds so that you can make more money from your bets.
With a maximum of 9 AFL games each weekend, the same game multi feature is a great way to enjoy the action. The majority of Australian betting sites now have this feature and it’s also very common to be used in their betting promotions.
There’s a lot of focus on player stats in the AFL, especially with the popularity of fantasy football. So we definitely recommend looking for a betting site that offers a huge variety of player props for every AFL game of the season. It’s also ideal to find betting sites that update their player props regularly, especially if there is late injury news.
While live online betting is not allowed in Australia, it’s still possible to place live bets over a phone call with the betting sites that offer live betting.
A lot of betting sites will offer a cash out feature that can be used to take the money before a multi or futures bet ends.
A multi builder is a great feature for creating quick and easy multi bets.
The majority of betting sites in Australia will have a blog that aims to provide free AFL betting previews and tips for upcoming games. This is useful for beginners or people that are looking to bet via expert advice.
It’s important to only sign up with legal betting sites and focus on bookmakers that offer a range of security features. This will help keep you safe online and your money will be secure.
While the majority of Australian betting sites offer the opportunity to bet on the AFL, there are some sites that are just ahead of the competition. Using our experience in the field of comparisons and reviews, we can confidently recommend the following sites for betting on the AFL:
To find out which Australian site offered the highest betting odds, we picked a random team - Port Adelaide in their Round 1 2022 clash with the Brisbane Lions.
| Site | Odds |
| Palmerbet | $2.35 |
| Topsport | $2.35 |
| Unibet | $2.32 |
| Picklebet | $2.31 |
| Bet365 | $2.30 |
| Boombet | $2.30 |
| Winnersbet | $2.30 |
| PlayUp | N/A |
In a review of the top 8 websites, Palmerbet and Topsport both came out on top with the highest odds. They were followed by Unibet and Picklebet. At the time of writing, PlayUp didn’t have any markets available yet, which was disappointing.
The AFL season starts in March and ends on the last Saturday in September. Generally, the first few rounds are great for betting on underdogs as the odds tend to favour what happened last season even though a team may have started to improve. During the mid-season after each team has played each other, this is also an ideal time to bet since teams will be at their most consistent form. The AFL finals is a huge event in Australia and betting sites will cater to this popularity with enticing betting promos or offers. Meanwhile, if you can want to bet on future markets such as Grand Final or Brownlow medal, this is recommended for early on in the season as the odds aren’t as accurate compared to the end of the season.
It’s common for most betting sites to offer AFL bonuses and a lot of time, they are fairly similar throughout the industry. However, we would recommend checking out three of our best AFL betting sites in Bet365, Unibet and Palmerbet. They have arguably the best betting features available for AFL betting and will have a good range of bonuses available.
It is possible to bet on AFL games while the live-action unfolds. Most sites will offer in-play betting odds and this will fluctuate depending on how the game is progressing. So it’s ideal to get your preferred bets on quickly before the odds change too much. In Australia, you must place live bets via a phone call with a betting operator. Luckily, this is an easy process at most betting sites.
Due to existing Television rights and agreements, it’s not currently possible to live stream the AFL on a betting site. Your best option for watching live AFL action online is signing up for a Kayo Sports subscription or creating a free account with Channel 7 plus.
What’s gambling really costing you? For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit Gamblinghelponline.org.au or Gambleaware.nsw.gov.au.
