NFL Overtime and Tie Betting Rules: What Your Bet Settles On
Three NFL regular-season games are played in London this October, all on Sundays. A regular-season NFL game can end in three ways: a win in 60 minutes, a win in overtime, or a tie after overtime. Which of the three your bet is settled on depends on the market, and on one point, the 2nd half and the 4th quarter, UK operators do not agree with each other. This guide takes the game rules from Rule 16 of the NFL’s 2026 Official Playing Rules and the settlement rules from the published American football rules of three UK-licensed operators. No tips, no prices, no picks.
The short version
- Overtime counts for the main game markets. Match winner, handicap and game total include it at all three operators we read, unless the market says otherwise.
- A regular-season game can finish tied. Overtime lasts ten minutes at most. If it is still level, the game is a tie, and a two-way match bet with no tie option is void.
- A regulation-time bet has a tie in it. It stops after 60 minutes, and a level score at that point settles the tie as the winner.
- The 2nd half and the 4th quarter are where operators split. Overtime counts in both at one operator, in the 2nd half only at another, and in neither at a third.
- Playoff games never end tied. In the postseason, 15-minute periods continue until there is a winner.
The 2026 London games
All three are regular-season games, so the 10-minute overtime and the possibility of a tie apply. Fixtures from the NFL’s London games page and kick-off times from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, read on 3 October 2026. Ireland is on the same clock as the UK.
| Date | Game | Venue | Kick-off (UK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 4 October 2026 | Indianapolis Colts v Washington Commanders | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | 14:30 BST |
| Sunday 11 October 2026 | Philadelphia Eagles v Jacksonville Jaguars | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | 14:30 BST |
| Sunday 18 October 2026 | Houston Texans v Jacksonville Jaguars | Wembley Stadium | Check the official listing |
The 2026 international schedule continues in Europe after London: Paris on 25 October, Madrid on 8 November and Munich on 15 November, all regular-season games under the same rules.
What the rulebook says happens after 60 minutes
An NFL game is 60 minutes, in four 15-minute quarters. Rule 16 of the 2026 Official Playing Rules covers what happens when the score is level at the end of the fourth quarter, and it calls the system “modified sudden-death overtime”: sudden death only starts once both teams have had a chance with the ball. The regular season and the postseason use the same possession rules but end differently.
| Stage | Regular season (Rule 16, Article 3) | Postseason (Rule 16, Article 4) |
|---|---|---|
| Length of overtime | One period of 10 minutes, at most. | 15-minute periods, as many as needed. |
| Coin toss | Immediately after regulation. The visiting captain calls. | The same, with a new toss after a fourth overtime period. |
| Possession | Each team gets the opportunity to possess the ball once, unless the kicking team scores a safety on the first possession. | The same guarantee, with the same safety exception. |
| After both have had the ball | If one team leads, it wins. If level, the next score of any kind wins. | The same. |
| Still level when time runs out | The game ends in a tie. | Another period starts. A tie is not possible. |
| Timeouts | Two per team. | Three per team in each half. |
The line that matters most for a bet is Article 3(d):
“There shall be a maximum of one 10-minute period, even if the second team has not had an opportunity to possess the ball or if its initial possession has not ended. If the score is tied at the end of the period, the game shall result in a tie.”
Two details follow from the rest of Rule 16. A safety by the team that kicks off, on the receiving team’s first possession, ends the game at once with a two-point win. And once the game is in its sudden-death phase, the first score of any kind ends it (Article 3(c)), so a field goal at that stage decides the game by three and a touchdown by six, with no extra-point try to follow.
Market by market: what counts
This is the common ground in the American football rules of the three UK-licensed operators we read on 3 October 2026. It is common practice, not a guarantee: the market name on your bet slip and your own operator’s rules decide.
| Market | Overtime | If the game ends tied | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match winner, two-way (moneyline) | Included | Void, stake returned, unless a tie is offered | Two of the three operators we read state the void in their own words. |
| Regulation-time result, three-way | Excluded | Level after 60 minutes means the tie wins | Whoever goes on to win in overtime does not matter to this market. |
| Handicap (spread) | Included | Settled on the final score like any other result | If the adjusted score is level, the bet is a push and the stake is returned. |
| Game total (over/under) | Included | Settled on the final score, overtime points counted | One overtime score can add anything from two points (a safety) to eight (a touchdown and a two-point try). |
| 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, 1st half | Excluded | Not affected | Settled on the named period only. |
| 2nd half and 4th quarter | Depends on the operator | Depends on the operator | The three operators we read give three different answers. See below. |
One operator puts the default in a single line: “Overtime counts for all markets unless stated otherwise.” Another says that, where there is no market-specific rule, points scored in overtime count towards pre-match markets as part of the 2nd half. Prices on NFL games are often quoted in American format; our odds converter turns them into decimal or fractional odds, and the margin calculator shows how much the bookmaker has built into a two-way or three-way market.
The 2nd half and the 4th quarter: three operators, three answers
Overtime is played after the fourth quarter, so it is not obvious whether a bet on the 2nd half or the 4th quarter should include it. The three UK-licensed operators we read answer the question differently:
- Operator Aincludes overtime in game lines “including 2nd Half/4th Quarter Bets” unless stated otherwise.
- Operator B counts overtime as part of the 2nd half for pre-match markets, with the exception of markets that name a specific quarter. A 4th quarter bet therefore stops at the end of the fourth quarter.
- Operator C states that overtime does not count on quarter or half markets, and that the 4th quarter does not include overtime. The exception is second-half markets offered at half-time, which do include it.
The same bet, 4th quarter over 10.5 points for example, can therefore win at one operator and lose at another on the same game, if the fourth quarter produces 10 points and overtime adds a field goal. We do not name the operators because this page is about the rules and not about where to bet. The point is the habit: on any late-game market, find the operator’s sentence about overtime before you place it. The same question, in a different form, decides football bets that run into extra time and penalties.
Three worked examples
The games are invented and the lines are illustrations, not prices. Every market in these examples is assumed to include overtime unless its name says regulation time or names a quarter or half.
1. Won with a field goal in sudden death
Team A and Team B are 20-20 after 60 minutes. Team A receives and kicks a field goal (23-20). Team B answers with a field goal (23-23). Both have now had the ball, so the next score wins: Team A kicks another field goal with three minutes left. Final score 26-23.
- Team A to win (two-way): wins.
- Regulation-time three-way: the tie wins. Both team selections lose.
- Team A -2.5: wins, by three. Team B +2.5: loses.
- Over 45.5 points: wins, with 49. On a regulation-time total the same bet would have lost, with 40.
On a 10-unit two-way bet on Team A at decimal odds of 1.91, the return is 19.10 units, including the stake, whether Team A won in regulation or in overtime.
2. A tie after overtime
The same game, 20-20 after 60 minutes, then a field goal each. Neither side scores again before the 10-minute period ends. Under Rule 16, Article 3(d), the game is a 23-23 tie.
- Team A to win (two-way, no tie option): void. A 10-unit stake comes back as 10 units.
- Regulation-time three-way: the tie wins.
- Team A -2.5: loses. Team B +2.5: wins. The handicap is applied to a level score like any other.
- Over 45.5 points: wins, with 46, because the two overtime field goals count.
A tied game does not void everything: only the markets with no way to settle a tie. If the void leg was part of an accumulator, check how your operator treats it, then use the accumulator calculator to see what the remaining legs return.
3. A safety on the first possession
20-20 after 60 minutes. Team B kicks off, and on Team A’s first possession Team B’s defence tackles the ball carrier in his own end zone for a safety. Under Rule 16, Article 3(a), Team B wins at once, 22-20, and Team B never has the ball in overtime.
- Team B to win (two-way): wins.
- Team B -2.5: loses, by half a point. Team A +2.5: wins.
- Over 41.5 points: wins, with 42.
Postponed games and touchdown scorers
Two more rules from the operators we read are worth knowing before a London Sunday. One keeps NFL bets standing if a game is moved within 60 hours of its original kick-off and the venue does not change, and voids them if the game moves further than that or to a different venue, apart from markets already decided. For the football version of the same question, see abandoned and postponed matches.
On touchdown scorer markets, the same operator counts rushing, receiving and defensive touchdowns, but not passing touchdowns: the quarterback who throws the touchdown pass does not score it. If there is no touchdown at all, its first team touchdown scorer and last touchdown scorer bets are void, while first and anytime touchdown scorer bets lose, because a “no touchdown scorer” option is priced in those markets. The logic is the same one that decides goalscorer bets in football: the market pays on the player credited with the score.
How other sports settle the same question
Every sport that can finish level after normal time answers the question differently, and so do the bets on it. In the NHL a shootout adds exactly one goal to the winner, covered in NHL overtime and shootout betting rules. In rugby league, Super League goes straight to golden point while the NRL plays extra time first, covered in rugby league golden point betting rules. If you are new to how prices turn into returns, start with how betting odds work.
Frequently asked questions
Does overtime count in NFL betting?
For the main game markets, yes. The three UK-licensed operators whose American football rules we read all include overtime in the match result, the handicap (spread) and the game total, unless the market says otherwise. The exceptions are markets built around regulation time, which settle on the score after 60 minutes, and quarter and half markets, where the three operators do not agree. Always check the market name and your operator's rules before you bet.
What happens to my NFL bet if the game ends in a tie?
A regular-season NFL game can end level: the 2026 rulebook allows one 10-minute overtime period, and if the score is still tied at the end of it, the game is a tie. On a two-way match bet with no tie option, two of the three operators we read state that the bet is void and the stake is returned. On a market where a tie is offered, the tie wins. Handicap and total bets are not affected by the tie itself: they settle on the final score, overtime included.
Can an NFL playoff game end in a tie?
No. Under Rule 16, Article 4 of the 2026 rulebook, a postseason game that is level after 60 minutes goes into 15-minute overtime periods, and play continues regardless of how many periods are needed until there is a winner. Only regular-season games can finish tied.
Do both teams get the ball in NFL overtime?
Yes, in both the regular season and the postseason, with one exception. Rule 16 guarantees each team the opportunity to possess the ball once, unless the team kicking off scores a safety on the receiving team's first possession, which wins the game immediately. In the regular season the guarantee runs out if the 10-minute period ends before the second team's possession is over.
Does overtime count for 4th quarter and 2nd half bets?
It depends on the operator, and this is where the rules we read differ most. One operator includes overtime in both 2nd half and 4th quarter bets. A second counts overtime as part of the 2nd half but not the 4th quarter. A third excludes overtime from quarter and half markets, except for second-half markets offered at half-time, which include it. Read the rule for your operator before you back a late-game market.
Do overtime touchdowns count for anytime touchdown scorer bets?
Normally, yes. The operator rules we read treat overtime as part of the game unless a market says otherwise, so a touchdown scored in overtime counts for an anytime scorer bet in the usual case. Some operators also exclude passing touchdowns from touchdown scorer markets, so check what counts as a touchdown for the market you are on.
Sources
Read on 3 October 2026. The overtime rules are quoted from Rule 16 of the NFL’s Official Playing Rules for the 2026 season, with the length of the game from Rule 4 and the value of each score from Rule 11. The London fixtures are from the NFL’s London games page, the two Tottenham Hotspur Stadium kick-off times from the stadium’s own event page, and the rest of the international schedule from the NFL’s schedule release as reported on 14 May 2026. Market settlement is taken from the published American football rules of three operators licensed by the Gambling Commission. Every figure in the worked examples was calculated independently.
- National Football League, 2026 Official Playing Rules — operations.nfl.com
- NFL, 2026 NFL London Games — nfl.com
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, NFL London Games — tottenhamhotspurstadium.com
- Sky Sports, NFL 2026 international schedule — skysports.com
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