If you’re looking to hone your football handicapping skills before college and the NFL begins, try your hand at some Arena Football League action at BookMaker sportsbook! BookMaker is the online wagering outlet where the line originates so get on the action early. The 2011 ArenaBowl will take place on Friday, August 12 and will be televised on the NFL Network.

Arena Football Betting Odds: The 50-yard indoor war season culminates with a winner-take-all game called the ArenaBowl. It’s the Super Bowl of the Arena Football League.

Unlike the NFL where the championship is played at a neutral site, the AFL gives the highest remaining seed home-field advantage. This is done primarily because the league wants fans to show up in hoards for the national television cameras.

BookMaker sportsbook offers an AFL online odds spread, total and moneyline for every ArenaBowl matchup. It also has weekly AFL lines available so get in on some of the action today.

From 2006 to 2008, the ArenaBowl was held in Las Vegas once and New Orleans twice. The turnout in Sin City was sinful. The first title bout in the Big Easy was a success but interest was lost when it returned the following year.

The winner of the ArenaBowl collects the coveted Foster Trophy. The hardware resembles the NHL’s Stanley Cup and is named after Jim Foster, who is considered the founder of indoor football.

The defending ArenaBowl champs are the Spokane Shock. They won it all in their first AFL season after competing in the af2 the previous seven years. They actually won the ArenaCup (af2’s championship game) in 2009 prior to joining the AFL.

Before the league went bankrupt in 2009, the Philadelphia Soul defeated the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII. But the victory came with the help of some zebras.

In one of the most poorly officiated championships in sports history, it appeared Soul co-owners Jon Bon Jovi and Ron Jaworski had paid off the referees. Every call went Philly’s way and even plays that were reviewed and obviously wrong were not overturned.

The commissioner of the league at that time, David Baker, was seen putting a championship hat on Bon Jovi during the third quarter. The front office was only concerned about having its celebrity owners win the ArenaBowl, which would draw more attention to the fledging league.

The Tampa Bay Storm have won the most ArenaBowls in league history with five. Their most recent title came in 2003. The defunct Detroit Drive won four ArenaBowls from 1988 to 1992. San Jose has collected three ArenaBowl rings, and should have a fourth had it not been for corruption.

The Storm also have the most ArenaBowl appearances with nine. The Orlando Predators have gone to the big game seven times, the Arizona Rattlers five occasions and the SaberCats four times.

Only three ArenaBowls have been decided by a field goal or less (2000, 2005, 2008) so AFL odds rarely come into play in these games. And there have been myriad blowouts. Of the 23 ArenaBowls played, 15 have been decided by double-digit margins.

The AFL online odds in last year’s ArenaBowl were small with the Shock favored by 1.5 points over the visiting Storm. Spokane earned a 69-57 victory which sent the game ‘over’ the posted total of 115.5.

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