As every NFL season begins, fans will gather together to celebrate with parties, live games and weekly football pools. Football pools are easy to set up, and they can add even more fun to NFL games.
Find a schedule for every week of the season. Most newspapers will usually print them out a week or two before the actual season starts, but you can easily find them online as well.
Organize each week in the order of the times that the teams play. Using East Coast times, games are normally played at 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. or on Monday night. There also are some Thursday and Saturday games scattered throughout the season.
Type out each week’s schedule on separate documents. Create the document with the team’s city names followed by the game times.
Add in numbers next to each team in a “1,2,3…” order. Label each game with a number. For example: 1) Minnesota 1 vs. 2 Miami - 1:00 p.m. 2) Oakland 3 vs. 4 New England – 1:00 p.m.
Type a dotted line after all of the games have been typed out. Underneath the dotted line is the submission slip that players will fill out and hand in. On the submission slip, put the number for each game followed by a blank space for their numbered team choice. Example: 1) **** 2)_____
Add in a “Name” section and “Total Points” to the submission slip. The “Total Points” section is for tie breakers. This is a guess at the total final score of the Monday Night Football game.
Pass out the pools and explain how to do them. Have them circle each team that they think will win, and fill out the corresponding number in the submission form.
Charge $2 to $5 for each pool to help build the pot. Add the money together to create a total for the week.
Wait until all of the games are over on Sunday. Tally the sheets to see who picked the most teams that won games. If there is a tie, then wait until the Monday night game is over. If there still is a tie, then see whoever got closest to the “Total Points” section.
Disburse the winning money, and announce the winner on next week’s football pool.