↓ 7-day trend: Average vig has improved by 0.22 percentage points over the past week (from 6.43% to 6.21%). Sportsbooks are tightening their lines — a good sign for bettors.
Pinnacle leads with 5.77% vig (C+), followed by BetUS at 6.29%.
Australian Football League betting offers a distinctive challenge compared to other major sports. AFL is a high-scoring, fast-paced game where totals regularly land between 150 and 200 combined points, which creates natural volatility that bookmakers must account for. The sport supports a deep range of markets — head-to-head, line betting, totals, first goalscorer, disposal markets, and multi-leg same-game parlays — but liquidity and pricing precision vary significantly across those markets. Head-to-head and line markets tend to be the sharpest, while player prop and exotic markets often carry wider margins, making vig comparison particularly valuable for bettors who venture beyond the basics.
Margins on AFL head-to-head markets typically sit in the 4–6% range at most sportsbooks, though sharper books and betting exchanges can push that below 3%. This is somewhat wider than what bettors find on major US sports like the NFL or NBA, largely because AFL attracts less global volume and fewer sharp syndicates driving lines toward efficiency. Line betting (the AFL equivalent of a point spread, usually set at a fixed 39.5-point handicap or adjusted lines) tends to carry slightly tighter margins than head-to-head odds, especially when two evenly matched teams meet. During the AFL Finals series in September, increased betting volume generally compresses margins, making it the most competitive period for vig across the board.
The AFL season runs from March through the Grand Final in late September, with 23 rounds of home-and-away fixtures followed by a four-week finals series. Several factors move AFL lines sharply: late team announcements (teams are confirmed just one hour before bounce on game day) can shift odds dramatically, particularly when key forwards or ruckmen are late withdrawals. Weather is a genuine variable — games played in wind and rain at exposed grounds like Kardinia Park or Blundstone Arena tend to suppress scoring and affect totals markets. Ground dimensions also matter; the massive MCG plays differently than the compact confines of Adelaide Oval. Home-ground advantage remains statistically significant in AFL, especially for teams in non-Victorian states where travel fatigue compounds the challenge for visiting sides.
AFL Sportsbook Vig Rankings
| # | Sportsbook | Avg Vig | Grade | 24h | Moneyline | Spreads | Totals | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pinnacle | 5.77% | C+ | ↓ 0.02% | 6.34% | 5.21% | — | 8 |
| 2 | BetUS | 6.29% | C | ↑ 0.01% | 4.73% | 6.98% | 6.98% | 8 |
| 3 | DraftKings | 6.56% | C | ↓ 0.06% | 6.04% | 6.98% | 6.67% | 8 |
Upcoming Events
| Matchup | Time | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Fremantle Dockers @ Western Bulldogs | May 1, 9:30 AM | 3 books |
| Port Adelaide Power @ Adelaide Crows | May 1, 10:10 AM | 3 books |
| Brisbane Lions @ Essendon Bombers | May 2, 2:35 AM | 3 books |
| Richmond Tigers @ West Coast Eagles | May 2, 6:15 AM | 3 books |
| North Melbourne Kangaroos @ Geelong Cats | May 2, 6:35 AM | 3 books |
Best Line Leaders
Which sportsbook offers the best odds most often across 8 events:
| # | Sportsbook | Best Lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DraftKings | 13 |
| 2 | BetUS | 7 |
| 3 | Pinnacle | 6 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which sportsbook has the lowest vig for AFL?
Pinnacle currently has the lowest average vig for AFL at 5.77%, earning a grade of C+.
How do sportsbook odds compare for AFL?
We compare 3 sportsbooks for AFL. The vig ranges from 5.77% (Pinnacle) to 6.56% (DraftKings).
Why do only 3 sportsbooks cover AFL?
AFL is a niche market compared to major sports like NFL or NBA. Fewer sportsbooks offer lines because betting volume is lower. The 3 books that do cover it are Pinnacle, BetUS, DraftKings.
What is AFL and when is it played?
AFL (Australian Football League) is the top professional Australian rules football league. The season runs from March through September, with finals in September-October. AFL is the most popular sport in Australia and attracts significant international betting interest.
How does AFL vig compare to US sports?
AFL vig tends to be moderate — comparable to NBA. Australian bookmakers offer the tightest lines due to local market depth, while US-facing books typically carry wider margins since AFL is a niche sport for their customer base.
What is vig (vigorish) in sports betting?
Vig — short for vigorish, also called juice or overround — is the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. It's the difference between the true probability of an outcome and what the odds imply. Lower vig means you keep more of your winnings on every bet. For example, a standard -110/-110 line has about 4.76% vig.
How often is this data updated?
We pull fresh odds from The Odds API three times per day — at 6:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 10:00 PM UTC. Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds. The timestamp at the top of the page shows the most recent refresh.
How is the vig grade calculated?
Each sportsbook is graded on a letter scale based on average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exceptional, A (2–3%) is excellent, B+ (3–4%) is above average, B (4–5%) is the industry standard, C (5–6%) is below average, and D (above 6%) indicates high-juice markets.
Why does lower vig matter for bettors?
Lower vig directly impacts your long-term returns. A bettor placing $1,000 per week at a book with 4% vig loses roughly $40/week to the house edge. At 2% vig, that drops to $20/week — a $1,040 difference over a year. For serious bettors, shopping for lower vig is one of the most reliable ways to improve profitability.
What sportsbooks do you track?
We track both regulated US sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars) and offshore books (Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, BetUS, LowVig.ag, BetAnySports). Data comes from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed sources.
How We Calculate These Numbers
- Data Source
- All odds on this page come from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed US and offshore sportsbooks. We track moneyline, spread, and totals markets across every sport with active betting lines.
- Update Frequency
- We pull a fresh snapshot of every tracked market three times per day — at 6:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 10:00 PM UTC. Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds for a given event. The timestamp at the top of each page tells you exactly when the data was last refreshed.
- Vig Calculation
- Vig (short for vigorish, also called juice or overround) measures the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. We calculate it by converting the odds on each side of a market to implied probabilities, summing those probabilities, and subtracting 100%. For example, a market priced at -110/-110 implies 52.38% on each side — a total of 104.76%, meaning a vig of 4.76%. Lower vig means better value for bettors because you keep more of your winnings.
- Per-Market Breakdown
- We compute vig separately for each market type: moneyline (h2h), point spreads, and totals (over/under). The "average vig" shown for each sportsbook is the mean across all market types weighted by the number of events sampled in each market.
- Grading Scale
- Every sportsbook receives a letter grade based on its average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing. A (2–3%) is very competitive. B+ (3–4%) is above average. B (4–5%) is the industry standard — a -110/-110 line is 4.76%. C+ (5–6%) is slightly below average. C (6–7%) is below average. D (7–8%) is high vig. D− (8–10%) is very high vig. F (10%+) is predatory pricing. See the full Vig Index Methodology for formulas, worked examples, and known limitations.
- Trend Tracking
- We store daily snapshots for 30 days, allowing us to show 24-hour and 7-day vig trends. A downward trend (improving) means sportsbooks are tightening their lines — often in response to increased competition or higher betting volume as a season heats up.