Sport doesn’t get much more Australian than the AFL (Australian Football League). Aussie punters love to have a bet on the Australian Rules and if you are one of those, this guide to the best AFL betting sites is well worth a read.
Our AFL experts looked at a host of factors to compile a list of top AFL betting sites. Scroll down to check out our top picks or jump straight to other sections, such as the best betting apps or most popular AFL markets.
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bet365 |
100% AUSSIE Best Live Streaming |
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Geo restrictions apply. You must have a funded account or have placed a bet in the last 24 hours to access. Under Australian law, we are required to inform you that Live Streaming on bet365 is exempt from Parts 3 and 4 of the Broadcasting Services (Online Content Service Provider Rules) 2018. Gamble Responsibly. Call Gambler's Help; National Gambling Helpline: 1800 858 858 or visit www.gamblinghelponline.org.au 18+
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Unibet |
100% AUSSIE Watch and bet live! |
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Visit Site |
Reliable Bookmaker with Flawless Track Record
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BlueBet |
100% AUSSIE Weekly Specials |
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Visit Site |
Variety of Betting Markets
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Palmerbet |
100% AUSSIE Great App |
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Visit Site |
Traditional Values and Great Betting App
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PlayUp |
100% AUSSIE Great Sports Coverage |
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Visit Site |
Key Player on the AUS Betting Scene
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Betfair |
100% AUSSIE Betting Exchange |
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Visit Site |
Unique Betting Product - So Far Undisputed
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CrossBet |
100% AUSSIE Horse racing live streaming |
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Visit Site |
Top new Australian bookmaker
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Picklebet |
100% AUSSIE Sports and eSports markets on offer |
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Visit Site |
Great eSports and sports offering
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Draftstars |
100% AUSSIE Leading Fantasy Sports Betting Site |
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Visit Site |
POLi for Quick FS Tournament Buy-ins
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It was a very close-run thing as all of the Australian AFL bookmakers we looked at had lots going for them. However, in the end, we had to go for bet365 as the top AFL betting site for Aussies. This bookie has a good number of markets and a host of additional features and they just about edged Unibet and Palmerbet when it came to betting on the AFL. They are also a great bookie for general Aussie Rules betting on other regional leagues as well as the AFL.
As we mentioned earlier, bet365 is a great option for betting on the AFL. If you are looking to place a match bet, futures bet or any other type of wager on the AFL, then bet365 could be the perfect AFL betting site for you. They also form outright Brownlow Medal winner markets.
No matter whether it is a match betting wager you are placing or if you are having a futures market punt, your top priority should always be finding the best AFL odds.
The odds you get have a direct impact on your eventual returns so if you are serious about making a profit from AFL betting then you need to ensure you are getting the best price possible. Signing up with one of the best Australian betting sites will make it quick and simple to get on at the right odds.
Checking different bookies before you bet is a quick way to make sure you are getting the best price for your money. You can boost your potential returns for the very same bet just by shopping around.
To highlight this we compared the 2023 Grand Final winner odds with three of our recommended bookies. As you can see from the table below, a $10 bet on Carlton with bet365 would see potential returns of $150 compared to $130 with Palmerbet.
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| Collingwood | 5.00 | 4.75 | 4.50 |
| Geelong | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Melbourne | 5.50 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Brisbane Lions | 6.50 | 7.00 | 7.00 |
| Carlton | 15.0 | 14.0 | 13.0 |
| St Kilda | 15.0 | 15.0 | 12.0 |
| Port Adelaide | 17.0 | 17.0 | 15.0 |
| Sydney | 17.0 | 17.0 | 15.0 |
| Essendon | 23.0 | 29.0 | 26.0 |
| Western Bulldogs | 23.0 | 23.0 | 21.0 |
| Adelaide | 23.0 | 23.0 | 18.0 |
| Richmond | 41.0 | 51.0 | 81.0 |
| Fremantle | 101.0 | 101.0 | 81.0 |
| Greater Western Sydney | 151.0 | 151.0 | 151.0 |
| Gold Coast | 151.0 | 101.0 | 81.0 |
| North Melbourne | 601.0 | 501.0 | 501.0 |
| Hawthorn | 601.0 | 501.0 | 501.0 |
| West Coast | 751.0 | 751.0 | 501.0 |
*Odds correct at the time of writing.
For an AFL betting site to be among the best on offer, it should also have a top betting app. Betting on the AFL from your mobile device has never been easier. We have rated and reviewed the best betting apps to point you in the right direction.
Unibet consistently scores highly when it comes to sports betting in Australia. They cover all the biggest domestic and international sporting events and their AFL coverage is up there with the best. If you sign up with Unibet you’ll be able to use their world-class mobile app to place all your AFL bets quickly and easily.
All the AFL markets you can bet on via desktop with Unibet are available on both iOS and Android devices. Others apps worth serious consideration are bet365 and BlueBet. Scroll below to discover more about each.
App Store rating: 4.3 ⭐️
Play Store rating: 3.8 ⭐️
App Store rating: 4.5 ⭐️
Play Store rating: 2.7 ⭐️
App Store rating: 4.5 ⭐️
Play Store rating: 4.5 ⭐️
There could be value to be had by backing Melbourne to win a second flag in three years and bounce back from last season’s disappointment.
If you want to beat the bookies when betting on AFL action what is the best approach? Well, our Aussie Rules betting pros have a number of useful AFL betting tips and strategies that should increase your chances of backing regular AFL winners. To find out more check out our AFL betting tips and advice below…
In this section, you will learn everything you need to know about some of AFL’s most popular betting markets. From the outright winner to the AFL Wooden Spoon and everything in between, if you want to know how to bet on the AFL you should most definitely keep reading.
One of the first bets you can make ahead of the new season is an AFL futures bet. These are wagers on the outcome of events way in advance and tend to come with much bigger odds. Selecting who will lift the title at the end of the campaign, which player will excel or which teams will struggle. These markets are pretty standard, so you have probably already seen it when betting on NRL or some other sport.
Here are a few of the most popular AFL futures:
The most popular pre-season AFL market is the AFL Grand Final or Premiership winner market. You simply bet on the team that you think will win the Grand Final at the MCG at the end of the season. You can also bet on the regular-season winners (minor premier) as well as on a Top 4 and Top 8 finish for a particular team. You can also bet on teams to miss out on the Top 8 with a number of our favourite Aussie AFL betting sites.
The Brownlow Medal is the award that every aspiring AFL player dreams about winning. This seasonal award is given to the player that is voted the ‘Fairest and Best’ by the AFL umpires. The umpires cast their votes on who they believe were the top 3 players in each match.
The top player gets 3 votes, the 2nd player 2 votes and the 3rd gets 1 vote. The player with the most votes wins the Brownlow Medal. You can get a bet on this market with bet365 and Unibet.
The AFL Wooden Spoon winners are the team that finishes at the bottom of the ladder during the regular AFL season. It is an imaginary award and it is something that no AFL team ever sets out to win at the start of their campaigns.
Bet365 have AFL Wooden Spoon Odds available, as do a number of other Australian AFL betting sites. The only thing that eases the pain of winning the Wooden Spoon is the number one draft pick the following season.
While the examples above can be backed on long-range predictions for the season, there are a huge number of markets for each and every fixture. Each match comes with a host of different markets with odds specifically for that one-off clash. The best bookies have a massive selection but here are just some of the top options you will find:
Instead of simple match-winner betting, a lot of Aussie punters prefer to utilise AFL Line betting markets. Line betting is essentially handicap betting. The favourites get a handicap (minus points) while the underdogs get a head start (plus points). This line is set by the bookie before the game.
To win your bet, the team you back in the AFL Line Market needs to cover the spread (line). So, if you back Richmond (-26.5 points) to beat Carlton, you need them to win by at least 27 points or you will lose your hard-earned cash. This is a good way of spotting better value odds based on how you think a certain game will play out.
The Over/Under Totals markets are worth looking at too. If you think a match looks like it might be a low (or high) scoring affair, you can bet on the Total Number of points you think will be scored. It’s very similar to over/under soccer bets, where you try to guess the number of goals.
This market comes in really handy when two closely matched teams are playing and you just cannot pick the most likely winner. The result doesn’t matter in the Total Points market, you just need both teams to score more (or less) than the points total nominated by the bookie.
Another popular bet is to predict the winning margin of one side over the other. Again, these odds will be much bigger than just picking one team to win the game. You can usually choose between a set amount of points (eg 1-12, 13-24, 25-36 etc). This is similar to line betting mentioned above but with more flexibility for you to choose other score options.
Last, but not least, we will look at the various goal scorer markets that are available for every single AFL match throughout the season. Most of our leading Australian Rules betting sites have markets for a first goalscorer in the game overall or first goal scorer of a quarter or half.
You can also bet on the first goalscorer for each team. Usually, it is one of the forwards that score the first goal, but you’ll get very nice odds if you manage to find a midfielder that does the business.
For us, singles are much more likely to generate a consistent return than AFL multi bets. However, AFL multis do give punters the chance to win bigger returns for small stakes, so it is not really surprising that multi betting in general is so popular. If you do plan on placing some AFL multis, try to keep the number of selections as low as possible to give you the best chance of a return.
The most popular type of multi bet is to form an accumulator of match result predictions. Selecting three or four teams to all win their upcoming fixtures. It’s important to understand that if just one of your predictions loses then the whole bet is a loser regardless of how the other teams get on.
Another interesting type of multi bet that is becoming more and more popular is same game multis. Unlike the previous example when you bet a set of match results, these are also accumulator bets but involve selections involving the same match. This includes bets like the method of first score, first team to score, and winning margin.
Not every bookie will allow you to place same game multi bets but the very best do have this option. bet365 and Palmerbet all the top choices for Aussie Rules same game multis at present.
If you want to start with AFL live betting you will need to have a phone to hand. Due to conditions stipulated in the Interactive Gambling Act, Australian Rules betting sites cannot offer live betting online. They are allowed to display odds on desktop and mobile though and if you want to place a bet you call the betting site and an operator will place the wager for you.
We think that bet365 has the best AFL in-play betting opinion. You can access the bet365 AFL live betting odds and markets on both desktop and mobile and the slick software they use ensures that prices are refreshed regularly. That said, all of our recommended bookies are good for live betting as well as conventional wagering, so consider them all.
Another option for live betting in Betfair. It is the go-to option for those who are determined to place live bets online without needing to pick up the phone.
Because Betfair is a betting exchange it means you are betting against other punters. This means it is possible to pick live odds and bet from you computer or mobile device.
| Betting Site | Best Feature | Secure Link | T&Cs | |||
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| Betfair |
100% AUSSIE Betting Exchange |
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Visit Site |
Unique Betting Product - So Far Undisputed
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Just like with a whole host of other sports, AFL Fantasy betting has caught the Australian public’s imagination. Draftstars should be your go-to site if you fancy jumping on the AFL fantasy betting bandwagon.
Instead of placing bets as you would at a traditional bookie, you instead pay an entry fee to a fantasy league. You compete against teams picked by other players and the team that earns the most points wins.
Draftstars have fantasy leagues for every round during the AFL season. You can play for free if you like, but the more you pay to enter the bigger the prize fund usually is. You can play for real money for as little as $2. One of our favourite features was the ‘Create Contest’ option. You can set up private AFL fantasy leagues and compete against your mates.
Draftstars is the number one choice when it comes to fantasy betting on the AFL. They have a wide range of fantasy league options and a number of different entry fees. Large prize pools and the option to set up your own leagues make this bookie an excellent choice.
At the moment, there seem to be no betting sites that offer live AFL streaming for Australian customers. Unibet and bet365 both have live streaming of lots of different sports available and you can watch Australian racing with BlueBet. For now, though, AFL Live streaming is not available from any of our leading Australian Rule betting sites.
If this changes we’ll be sure to let you know. For now, it seems best to catch the action on TV and bet with your bookie. With both bet365 and Unibet being excellent choices for other sports, there is a chance AFL will be available at some stage.
In the early years, Aussie Rules was predominantly played in the state of Victoria and when it was formed in 1896 it was first known as the VFL (Victoria Football League). In 1990 the game went National and the official organisation that regulates the game was renamed as the Australian Football League (AFL). Every state in Australia is represented in the AFL, apart from Tasmania. In 1981 a Draft System was introduced and the first pick goes to whichever team finished bottom in the previous season.
Another interesting aspect of the AFL is the Father-son rule. This allows teams to draft a player if their father had played over 100 games for the club. A few Aussie Rules teams have also recruited from Ireland and one of the most successful imports was the late Jim Stynes. The Dublin native won the Brownlow Medal in 1991 and broke the record for most consecutive AFL appearances with 244.
Essendon and Carlton share the honour of winning the most Premierships (Grand Finals) with 16 victories apiece. Collingwood is next best with 13 with Richmond and Melbourne on 12. Three current teams have failed to win a Premiership, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney and Fremantle. St Kilda legend Tony Lockett is the record goalscorer with 1360, while the highest individual score in a game was 18.1 by Fred Fanning for Melbourne v St Kilda in 1947.
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The AFL season starts in March and is played on a 23-round, round-robin home and away basis. That means that each of the 18 teams will play a total of 22 games during the regular season, with each team receiving one ‘bye’ during the campaign. Whoever finishes top of the table after the regular season are crowned ‘Minor Premiers’ and they are awarded the McClelland Trophy.
At the end of the regular season, the top eight finishers proceed to the ‘Finals Series’, a 4-week mini-tournament. First up is the Qualifying/Elimination Round. The top four teams from the regular season play in a ‘Qualifying Final’ (1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd).
The winners of those two games go straight to a Preliminary Final. On the other side of the draw the teams that finished from 5th to 8th play ‘Elimination Finals’ where the losers go out and the winners advance to play the losers of the Qualifying Finals in the Semi-Finals.
The winners of the two semi-finals then go on to play the winners of the two Qualifying Finals, while the losers are eliminated. This round is known as the ‘Preliminary Final’ and the two winners of the Preliminary Finals face off in the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The best AFL betting sites stand out from the crowd due to a host of different reasons. The top choices not only have a wide variety of markets and competitive odds, but they also boast great apps, live streaming, and excellent bonus features.
We rated and reviewed the top choices to compile our recommended list of the very best. It’s the perfect starting point for anyone looking to be on the AFL from Australia.
We have rated and reviewed the best AFL betting sites in Australia to help narrow your search. We have considered many aspects, including betting apps, value odds and the number of markets. Our recommended list is the perfect starting point to getting the best option for you.
If you read our AFL odds comparison section above you will get the answer to this question. The truth is that no AFL betting site is guaranteed to have the best odds for any given market. You will have to put in the hard yards and shop around to see who has the best price for the wager you want to place.
All of our recommended bookies made the list because they also have the best AFL betting apps in Australia. We like what Unibet has to offer but it is worth seeing which one suits you the most.
Yes, the best bookies in Australia will also offer live AFL betting. The in-play prices will be displayed online but you will need to pick up the phone to place your wager due to Aussie betting regulations. The only place you can place live bets online is with Betfair.
