Kan Dail
There are plenty of rivalries going on within sports teams but there is even more rivalry between these two types of football game. It isn’t very often that lovers of the same sport divide themselves so avidly into two groups. However, college football versus NFL football is always a hot topic of discussion. The lines get blurred when considering the diverse fan bases. Where does loyalty lie – with the athletes one grew up watching in college, or with the refined skills on display in the NFL? Each group fervently defends their preferred league, leading to impassioned debates and an intense undercurrent of competition.
This means that it’s also pretty evenly split when it comes to placing bets as well. Of course, people want to bet on the version of football that they’re a fan of watching. Those who are a little older and like to place bets online may use operators like Bally Bet lean more towards NFL betting. But those who are of college age will probably tend to lean closer to college football betting. This generational gap adds another level to the rivalry, making the stakes even higher when their respective teams face off. Each successful bet becomes a victory for their favored league, further fueling the rivalry. It’s not just about personal gain, it’s about pride and representation too.
Let’s take a look between the NFL and college football and see what all the fuss is about. We’ll be taking you through some arguments for both sides but let us know which team you’re backing.
What is the NFL?
The NFL or National Football League is the biggest professional (American) football league in the USA, and by extension the world. It is home to 32 teams and was created way back in 1920. Of course, it’s all changed a little in all those years but the game itself is still the same.
The season unofficially starts all the way in August where there is three weeks’ worth of preseason action. These three weeks are made up of warm up games where none of them actually count towards the end goal, the conference title and the Superbowl game.
There are then eighteen whole weeks of NFL games where each team aims to go further up the leader board as the weeks go on. This runs from September to January with each team playing one game a week with only one week off.
What is college football?
College football is pretty self-explanatory in that it is a league of football that’s played by college students. The biggest difference between college football and the NFL is that NFL players get paid, and the college students don’t tend to be paid.
It used to be that they weren’t allowed to be paid for anything football related but the rules are slowly changing. Usually, the end goal for a college football player would be to be picked up by the NFL at the end of their time at school. But this is never a guarantee.
Which is the most popular and why?
In terms of how many people watch the games themselves, the NFL has much bigger numbers in terms of audience. There are far more people who watch each game of the NFL than there are watching each and every college football game.
However, the people who watch college football tend to have a much greater personal investment in the games themselves. There are lots of people who watch the NFL, there’s no doubt about it. But they tend to be people who might not watch football on a regular basis.
There are people who watch the Superbowl who won’t watch another game of the NFL season all year. Whereas people who watch college football tend to watch every game as they’re a lot more passionate about it.
Is the NFL better than college football?
Again, when it comes to figuring out which one is better, it’s a tough call to make. There are people who would argue that college football is better as it’s full of people who are fresher and younger and who are in it for the love of the game. The passion could be stronger, and the will to prove yourself. There are plenty of divisions, schools, and tournaments to choose from, equalling to more games in total.
It’s more of a prestigious event for them because they’re playing for their school and there are a lot of fierce rivalries out there. The competition between teams at college football is another level entirely to the competitiveness between NFL teams. Rivalries go back decades in both, but schools going head to head tends to get the blood of the fans boiling at higher temperatrues than, say, when the Packers or Steelers play, despite their alleged rivalry.
The flip side of this argument is that the NFL teams are literally paid to play. Their entire job role is playing football so there is more of an argument to say that they are technically better. Their entire lives are based on training for the next game and finessing the skills they already have. College players are not as much in it, but they want to be, hence their hard work and dedication at the biggest stage at their level, which is the NCAA.
They have the same passion for the sport as college football players but they have also had the time and the training to learn how to make themselves better sportsmen. They’re not out there on the field trying to prove some ancient old rivalry. NFL players want to win the game so that they’re one step closer to winning the competition.
Some might argue that college football games have a much easier time when it comes to the rules. NFL has super strict guidelines on how to behave and college football does tend to be on the more lenient side.
Whether you’re a bigger fan of the NFL or college football, make sure you’re placing the right bets so that you can bag a win as well. For sports bettors that like American football, there is an abundance of games whichever way you look at things.