Last week, you may recall that we revealed that Inspired have signed a deal with the NFL 
Players Alumni to produce a brand-new NFL-themed game using former NFL legends that are part of the Alumni organisation. As yet there is no release date for this game, but it is thought that it should not be too long before it is in betting outlets.
However, Inspired have released a Virtual American Football game recently and it is now available to play at a number of popular betting sites, such as bet365 Sport. This new game is called simply, Virtual American Football and in this article, we are going to take a closer look at exactly what the game has to offer.
What is Virtual American Football?
As the name suggests, Virtual American Football is a new Virtual Sports betting game where you can bet on the outcome of an American Football match. As with all other Virtual Sports, the game is organised into two sections, the betting part of the game, where you place your bets on a selection of markets and then the highlights of the game, which displays what happened and how the outcome of the betting markets are determined.
We will look in more detail at the different betting markets available on Virtual American Football below, but the first thing to note is that the graphics of the game are excellent. It is clear that Inspired have used motion-capture technology to create the game and in truth, the game is so realistic, you could be forgiven for genuinely thinking you are watching real teams compete.
Another positive is the commentary on the game as they have used American commentators to give the game real authenticity and the number of comments that they make and what they talk about also make it seem like you are watching a real game.
In truth, I cannot fault Inspired’s Virtual American Football in terms of the quality of its presentation. At the end of each game you get a review page which lists the winning bets in each of the available market as well as a report on the final score of the game you have just watched.
One thing to note however is that there are two different Virtual American Football options you can play. The first of these is played at Fenton Field and is based more on real life NFL teams, whereas the option at Queensway Park is based more on Collegiate football.
However, there are more differences than simply the teams participating in each version of the game and these become apparent when you view the bets available on each game and how the highlights are organised for each as we will explore in more detail below.
What Betting is available on Virtual American Football?
The types of betting for Virtual American Football depends on the game you are playing. We 
will look at the NFL-themed version of the game played at Fenton Field.
You can place bets on the Spread of points, the Total number of points (Over/Under) and the Money Line for each team competing.
There is also a Winning Margin bet where you can bet on the points gap between the two teams, the Total Points scored and then there are a couple of combination bets you can wager on the Spread and Totals bets, which is a bet on the winning team (with a handicap applied) and the total number of points scored (over/under) and the Result and Total bet which is a win on who wins the game (with no handicap applied) and the over/under bet on the total number of points.
The highlights package of the game then displays the key plays from all four quarters of the match before showing you the final score.
However, in the college version of the game played at Queensway Park, the whole approach is somewhat different and rather than betting on the whole game, you are betting on how a particular drive in that game will go.
Drives can last between 1 play or more and the drive ends when the team loses possession of the ball, turns the ball over on downs, or scores a touchdown or field goal.
The betting available on the game reflects what can happen in the drive with markets such as:
- Drive Outcome – 2 Way bet – This is where you can bet on whether the drive will result in a Score for the team in possession, or a turnover.
- Drive Outcome – 4 Way bet – This is a similar bet as to the one above but with more options including the outcome being a Field Goal, a Touchdown Run a Touchdown Pass or a turnover.
You can combine Drive Outcome bets with number of play bets to create multiple selection bets that offer greater value odds. You can also bet on the total number of plays in a drive, as well as betting on what the plays will be on the first down, the number of yards that will be landed on a first down and similar.
The highlights package in this game focuses solely on that series of downs for the drive. There are no additional highlights from other parts of the game.
Who are the Teams competing?
The types of teams competing depend on which Virtual American Football game you play.
In the NFL-based game at Fenton Field, this game features city-based teams that are clearly based on real life counterparts, though not named (for licensing reasons) after them exactly. So instead of the San Francisco 49ers, you simply have San Francisco, although the kit and colours they wear mirror the 49ers real kit.
Other teams here include Philadelphia, New England, Green Bay, New York (Giants), Dallas and Pittsburgh.
The College-based game at Queensway Park features teams with nicknames alone, such as Diablos, Hawks, Cyclones, Comets, Sabres, Stormers, Stags and Bobcats. These teams have no geographic location attached to them, nor any particular college and are known solely by their nicknames.
How long does a Virtual American Football game last?
Each Virtual American Football game lasts three minutes in total including the betting period and the highlights package.
However, there are considerably more highlights shown in the NFL-based game at Fenton Field, than are usually shown in the College-based Drive-based game at Queensway Park.
What’s the verdict on Virtual American Football?
What you have here is not just one Virtual American Football game, but two. One you bet on the outcome of a game, the other you bet on the outcome of a drive. It is up to the individual punter to decide which of the two is the best option for them, though I would suggest starting with the NFL-based option first, especially if you are new to NFL betting is a good idea.
Overall though, this is a fabulous addition to the Virtual Sport range of games and it is one that will delight many fans of the NFL, as well as sports betting fans in general. There are a nice number of betting options and these games have whetted my appetite for the next NFL-themed game on the horizon using the NFL Player Alumni data.
