This article has been updated since its original publication after SuperBook stopped offering players not to score a touchdown (and eventually closed its doors). ESPN BET began offering them in 2023, and DraftKings in 2024.
Anytime touchdowns have swept the sports betting world over the past few years, becoming the most popular prop in football. But because sportsbooks only offer one side of these bets — that the player will score a touchdown — they can price them however they want.
If you're a sicko like me who has always dreamed about betting players to not score a touchdown because you enjoy suffering through horrible football games, you may be in luck, depending on your state. ESPN BET and DraftKings are now two sportsbooks to offer the opposite side of anytime touchdowns.
Here's how it looks at ESPN BET. In this Seahawks-Cowboys example, you can bet CeeDee Lamb at -110 to score, or -125 to not score. You can also parlay a handful of players to not score, or use one in a same game parlay.
And here's how it looks at DraftKings. It's buried all the way on the right side of the TD Scorers tab.
The pricing is … not great. Lamar Jackson for example is +205 to score and -340 to not score — a hold of 9.14%. But at least the option is available.
Why Do You Want a "No Touchdown" Side?
If there's only one side to a market, it allows sportsbooks to price that bet however they want.
For example: A sportsbook could list Donald Trump at 100-1 to win golf's U.S. Open in a one-sided market — meaning you can only bet that he will win it, not that he won't win it. If they had to offer him not to win the U.S. Open — even at a ridiculous price like -50000 — you may have some deep-pocketed bettors laying down money at that -50000 price, since it's pretty much a guarantee he won't win. So that would force the line on him winning to be much longer than 100-1.
So how does that relate to touchdowns? Well, the prices are always bad because there's only one side. Books can price them however they want, and not be held accountable.
For example, our director of predictive analytics Sean Koerner found in the 2022 Bengals-Titans divisional round playoff game that just two of the 23 players listed in the anytime touchdown market had any "edge" — aka his projected odds were more advantageous than the listed price at sportsbooks. And one of the two edges was just 0.4%.
Offering a "no" price naturally forces that "yes" prices to be a little better.
How to Bet a Player Not to Score a Touchdown
Most sportsbooks have a long list of players, with their prices to score a touchdown listed next to them. There's only one option.
Here's how it looks at FanDuel:
But here's how it looks at ESPN BET — each player has their own two-way market, with "yes" as one option and "no" as the other.
In this Seahawks-Cowboys game, ESPN BET had the best prices among widely available sportsbooks on the following players:
- CeeDee Lamb -110 (-120 at FanDuel was next best)
- Zach Charbonnet +165 (+150 at Caesars next)
- Tyler Lockett +285 (+275 at PointsBet)
- Tony Pollard -134 (-138 at FanDuel)
- Jake Ferguson +210 (+200 at BetMGM)
That's five of the top seven players on the board.
Can You Use "No TDs" in Parlays?
You can use these "no TD" lines in parlays, which is nice, because so few people feel comfortable laying such big prices.
Here's an example. I took four players to not score a touchdown — Brandin Cooks at -310, DaRon Bland at -20,000, Geno Smith at -1,700 and Jalen Tolbert at -800. The price came out to -115.
