Superbowl Forty-Four (XLIV) takes place in sunny South Florida on the 7th of February 2010 and it's already bubbling up to be a fascintating contest that could make history!

We've reached the divisional finals and home advantage can be vital at this stage -it's reflected in the spread prices offered by both Sporting Index and Spreadex. Indianapolis and New Orleans are vying for favouritism -but the outsiders Vikings and Jets will have something to say...

Team	Conference	Record	Sporting Index Spread	Spreadex Spread
Indianapolis	AFC South	15-2	75 - 78	76 - 79
New Orleans	NFC South	14-3	71 - 74	70 - 73
Minnesota	NFC North	13-4	61 - 64	61 - 64
NY Jets	AFC East	11-7	58 - 61	57 - 60

Winner = 100 pts, Runner-up = 70 pts, Lose Conference Championship = 50 pts,
Lose Divisional Playoff = 33pts, Wild card = 20 pts. All others = 0

Playoff Games - Conference Championships
AFC Sun 24th Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (8 pm uk)

NFC Sun 24th New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts (11.40 pm uk)

The markets for this year's Superbowl Final aren't up yet -but here are the markets for last year's Superbowl final in Tampa...

Superbowl forty-three takes place in Tampa this Sunday (Feb 1st) and with it comes some fantastic spread betting opportunities! Sporting Index have all kinds of markets for the big game and here is where we find the Superbowl spread value...

a) Which Teams Are In The Superbowl?
b) When Is The Game?
c) So Who Are The Teams' Star Players?
d) Where Can I Watch It All?
e) What Are The Betting Opportunities?
f) Where & When Can I Bet On the NFL?

Which Teams Are In The Superbowl?

Team	Quarterback	Sporting Index & Speadex Spreads	So Far
Pittsburgh Steelers	Ben Roethlisberger	90.5-92	70
Arizona Cardinals	Kurt Warner	78-79.5	70

Sporting Index & Spreadex Guide: Winner = 100 pts, Runner-up = 70 pts,

When Is The Game?

Superbowl Final
Sunday 1st Feb: Super Bowl XLIII 6:00 PM ET
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

So Who Are The Teams' Star Players?
Every team has it's star players usually the Quarterback (QB), Wide Receiver (WR), Running Back (RB) or Tight End (TE).

Pittsburgh Steelers

Name	Position	Shirt No.	TDs	Notes
Ben Roethlisberger	QB	7	2	Big Ben already has one superbowl ring from 2005. Extremely strong QB who is an iconic leader of his team.
Hines Ward	WR	86	7	The 2005 MVP is struggling to make the game with a knee injury. The leading TD scorer for the Steelers racked up over 1000 receiving yards in the regular season. Would be a big loss if missing.
Santonio Holmes	WR	10	5	Could play a big part with Ward injured -he had a great game against Arizona last season and caught 6 passes for 128 yards and had 2 TDs.
Nate Washington	WR	85	3	Strong wide receiver who has played an increased role on the way to the Superbowl.
Willie Parker	RB	39	5	Rushed for over 1000 yards this season and considering he missed five weeks thorugh injury he has been a great outlet for Big Ben. Watch out for him on Sunday, no doubt he will get at least one TD for the Steelers.
Mewelde Moore	RB	21	6	Filled in for Parker throughout the season and has an excellent average carry of 4.2 yards.
Heath Miller	TE	83	3	This tight end scored an important TD in the Divisonal playoff against the Chargers and will be looking for more against Arizona.

Arizona Cardinals

*Name*	*Position*	*Shirt No.*	*TDs*	*Notes*
Kurt Warner	QB	13	0	37 year old veteran QB has thrown for an amazing 30 TD's this season and completed 67 per cent of his passes. Must be on top of his game for the Cardinals to stand a chance.
Larry Fitzgerald	WR	11	12	A real team player who has had a career year. 12 TDs and 1500+ receiving yards show his value to Arizona. Could be good value to score the first TD on Sunday.
Anguin Boldin	WR	81	11	Not a great team player, but 1000+ yards for the season doesn't lie -he is an asset to the Cardinals. Great outlet for Warner and has outstading speed in any foot race.
Steve Breaston	WR	15	3	In his first proper season he too has 1000+ yds. May go onto much better things and form an understanding with the next QB Matt Leinart.
Tim Hightower	RB	34	10	Oustanding debut season for this strong RB. Scored 10 TD's and gives the QB a real alternative to the favoured passing game.
JJ Arrington	RB	28	3	Experienced RB who had a knee problem last week -should make the Superbowl.
Edgerin James	RB	32	3	Ten year veteran of the NFL, rushed for over 500 yards this season scoring 3 TD's on the way the Superbowl.

Where Can I Watch It All?

The Superbowl final will again be broadcast live on Sky Sports & BBC tv (they did a good job last year) and also on BBC Radio Five Live.

Live, Sunday 1 February
2300-0310, BBC One & Sky Sports One

Highlights, Monday 2 February
0310-2359, BBC Red Button
1900-2000, BBC Two

Sky Sports Xtra has a great show called NFL Total Access that will give you great background and build-up to the big game.

What Are The Betting Opportunities?
Just like soccer, you can bet on the seasonal outcomes or individual games -although betting in-running is limited to the televised games.

The spread firms Sporting Index, Spreadex and IG Sport usually set spreads for the winning margins and the number of points scored in each game. These spreads are quite small so its unusual to win or lose too much, unless you are playing in high stakes.

A much more volatile market is the shirt numbers of touchdown scorers -with wide receivers wearing a shirt number of anything between 10-89 !
Then there are 'first team to score', 'time until first touchdown' and total passing yardage!

Best Bets
a) The 'Hotshots' on Sporting Index has been set at 44-48. The named players -Parker, Holmes, James and Fitzgerald each receive 25 points for every touchdown they score.
So if they score 2 touchdowns between them then you are in profit. Buy at 48 (SI)

b) Field Goal Yardage 110-120 (Spreadex) -Arizona will be reduced to field goal attempts on many of their drives, due to the prowess of the Steelers defence. Also, the teams in the Superbowl often just want to get points on the board -so take an easy FG rather than go for the riskier TD. Buy at 120 (Spreadex)

c) 1st Quarter Points 8.5-9.5 -Although this is the classic 'offense versus defense' match-up, both teams will be fast out of the blocks and keen to get points on the board. Also, the downside is quite small and manageable. Buy at 9.5 (Sporting Index)

d) Player TD Minutes (Sporting Index)
Willie Parker (Pittsburgh) -Buy at 22
Tim Hightower (Arizona) -Buy at 13

e) Defensive Performance (Sporting Index)
5pts per solo tackle, 15 pts per sack, 25pts per forced fumble/intercptn, 50 pts per TD.
Lamarr Woodley (Pitts) Has 11 sacks this season alone! -Buy at 38

f) Total Arizona Field Goals 1.3-1.6
The famous Steelers defense should force the Cardinals to kick for FGs on several occasions -so 1.6 looks very good value. Buy at 1.6 (Sporting Index)

If you watch the Superbowl live, then it is one of the great betting opportunities in sport -due to it's length (4 hours) and the number of breaks involved -which give you a good chance to re-evaluate your position and take any profits you may have made.

Where & When Can I Bet On The NFL?
A great site to bookmark is nfluk.com as they provide excellent background information and franchise news. The tv schedule for the NFL can be found at livesportontv.com whilst theres several places to bet on American Football. Sporting Index (SI) have a fantastic range of markets on all aspects of NFL, IG Sport have live, weekly and long term markets. Spreadex rank alongside SI as the market leaders in NFL spreads with many live games and long-term markets.