Up Your Game This Football Season

See you at the sportsbooks

Ah, September. A hint of fall is (finally) in the air. The first leaves are starting to turn. And people in every corner of the country are celebrating the return of America's favorite season - football.

Whether you're a life-long member of the Bills Mafia, a transplant still sporting your team colors every game day (we're looking at you, Raider Nation), a diehard college fan or the kind of superfan who can happily spend your weekend parked in front of any game served up, the world just seems to come back to life once the season is underway.

In the 2021 NFL season alone, more than 17 million fans tuned in, clocking 370 billion minutes of TV view time. To say we're a nation obsessed with the sport is an understatement. It's a game where anything can happen, with thrills both on and off the field. Like Patrick Mahomes throwing his sixth 5-touchdown game in a week-one route against Arizona. Or Tom Brady's (not so) surprising return after his latest 40-day retirement. Huh, who would have bet on that? (Everyone.)

And for gaming enthusiasts, that's what makes betting on football just as thrilling. Sometimes you think you have a sure bet, sometimes it's a blindside, but like Coach Madden always said, that's why they play the game.

How to get in on the action for the NFL Season

The #1 spectator sport in the United States hits a whole new level of fun

While many will argue that there's nothing like the thrill of watching a live game and cheering at the top of your lungs with 80,000 fans, sportsbook enthusiasts will tell you their seats are actually the sport's best-kept secrets - and that the thrills can be even bigger.

That's big talk. But can they back it up? Let's take a closer look at football betting and the added thrill of the top NY sportbooks.

Are you ready for some of the best in-person NY Sports Betting?

Set your season to sizzle at one of three TS Sports Sports Books in New York

If you're a diehard football fan who knows the added fun of sports betting but you've yet to check out the TS Sports sports books at Turning Stone Resort Casino, YBR Casino and Sportsbook or Point Place Casino - friend, we need to talk.

These three sportsbooks are next-level sports entertainment. In fact, they're next-level everything, with the kind of luxury and style you'd expect from Turning Stone, making them the place to be for New York sports betting. We're talking massive LED walls of live-action sports, luxury seats, and restaurant-style menus from both the kitchen and the bar.

At TS Sports at Turning Stone, look for monthly specials and a full-service bar with local brews and favorites on tap.

Sports betting explained

Let's break out the playbook on how to bet on football games in NY

If you want to bring your best game to the big game this weekend, time to bust out the playbook long before kickoff and get to know your options.

Let's say you're going to bet that the Bills will beat the Dolphins in December (because all roads to the Superbowl are going through New York this year, yeah baby!)

Maybe you're the type who likes to run all the numbers on both teams, pour over the latest power rankings, study more film than Joe Buck and follow who's on the IR week to week.

Or maybe you've just lived through enough New York winters to know those Florida boys have a windy welcome waiting in that stadium. You're ready to lay down a bet, but how? Here is a quick look at the lingo around how to bet on football games:

• What is a straight bet meaning: A straight bet is a wager on one selection in an event. The selection must be successful to get a payout.
• What is a straight bet on the points spread or "the spread": A side wager or point spread wager is a straight wager on the point spread.
• What is a minus sign in front of a number on a points spread: Indicates by how many points that team is favored to win.
• What is a parlay in football betting: A parlay bet involves the number of selections chosen to win from different events.
• What is the Moneyline: A Moneyline bet is a wager placed on a game without the point spread. To compensate for the point spread, the payout is handicapped based on the favorite or the underdog.
• What is a total or over meaning in football wagers: A Total or Over/Under wager is a wager for the total points scored between both teams that are playing against each other.

Why the world loves a wager

From chariots to Chargers, betting on sports seems to be in our DNA

The next time you're in the City with some time on your hands, stop by The Met and check out a six-sided die from the Roman period - around 2,000 years ago. You might be surprised to learn that the markings have barely changed for literally thousands of years. And cubic dice from the East predate those by another thousand years. Apparently, we humans love the roll of the dice - literally and figuratively - whether we're the ones competing or cheering on from the sidelines.

While sports betting's popularity grew in the early 1800s with horse racing - a thrill that has endured long after horses stopped pulling chariots - it wasn't until 1862 that the first organized football team was even formed. Its name, the Oneida Club, is rather special to us here at Turning Stone. While the team was started in Boston, it was named as a tribute to the organizer and league captain, Gerrit Smith Miller, for his beloved Oneida Lake here in Central NY where he spent his childhood and later made his home. 

It took until 2013 for a bill to pass to legalize sports betting at the state level in New York, though it wasn't until 2019 that the first sportsbook opened. That means the secret is still slowly getting out. Check your team's schedule and make plans now to be at Turning Stone, Yellow Brick Road or Point Place to up your football game this season.