The National Football League has made adjustments to its rule book for the 2025-26 season. Today, we examine these rule changes and evaluate their impact on NFL betting.
New Kickoff Rule
The new kickoff style, first introduced in 2024, is now permanent. Players on both teams line up closer together and have restricted movement before the kick. This is intended to make the play safer and increase the likelihood of kickoff returns.
In 2025, if a touchback occurs, the receiving team will start at the 35-yard line instead of the 25-yard line. Also, the trailing team can now declare an onside kick attempt at any time.
Betting Impact: The additional ten yards for touchbacks, combined with the uptick in returned kickoffs, should cause NFL over/under projections to increase a bit due to the added scoring that improved field position will cause.
The hybrid kickoff rule change proposal has been approved by @NFL clubs for the 2024 season. 👇 pic.twitter.com/DggRekG3mo
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 26, 2024
New Overtime Rule
Regular-season overtime will now operate in the same manner as it does in the postseason, where both teams are guaranteed a chance to possess the ball, regardless of the outcome on the first possession. Regular season overtime will now be 10-minute periods.
Betting Impact: There will be no sudden overtime losses in the NFL without the team you wagered on getting a chance to possess the ball at least once.
New Instant Replay Rule
Instant Replay can now assist on-field officials with more specific, objective aspects of a play and help correct obvious game administration errors when video evidence is clear.
Betting Impact: This change will remove additional fluky elements of the game, which is always a good thing from a betting perspective.
Other New Rule Changes With Betting Implications
NFL franchises can now designate two players to return from injured reserve after roster cuts to 53 players. This allows each team to have an additional player on their active roster and make decisions on final cuts and practice squad members later in the season.
Playoff teams get two extra Designated for Return (DFR) spots, increasing the limit from 8 to 10. This is another change that facilitates the stashing of players for the benefit of each franchise.
Rule Changes That Were Not Adopted
- Removing the automatic first down for defensive holding/illegal contact.
- Betting Impact: Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs will continue to extend drives due to the benefit of the doubt by the referees on these types of calls in long-yardage scenarios.
- Banning the “Tush Push.”
- Betting Impact: Teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills will continue to achieve easy first downs in short-yardage situations.
- Allowing Wild Card teams to be seeded higher than division champions if they have a better record.
- Betting Impact: This would have reversed home-field advantage in some instances during the NFL Playoffs, significantly altering projected winners and losers.
Sources: NFL Rule Changes | ESPN
