How to Bet Cowboys vs Buccaneers NFL Season Opener Online – Early Odds, Promos, and Which States Can Bet

By Robert Duff in NFL Football
Updated: June 19, 2024 at 12:05 pm EDTPublished:

- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys will kickoff the 2021 NFL regular season on Thursday, September 9
- The Bucs are the reigning Super Bowl champions
- Where to bet and how to bet on this game are explained in the story below
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play host to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. The NFL is continuing its tradition of opening the season by pitting the defending Super Bowl champions against another glamorous NFL franchise.
There’s certainly intrigue surrounding this game. Can Bucs quarterback Tom Brady continue to deliver the goods at age 44? How will Dallas QB Dak Prescott rebound from a season-ending ankle injury?
Oddsmakers are putting more faith in the former than the latter. It’s the Buccaneers who are being established as the 7-point favorites in this game at Raymond James Stadium. That’s the same place where Tampa Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in last season’s Super Bowl.
Which US states offer legal, regulated sports betting on this game? Wondering how to bet on this game? Perhaps you’re new to sports betting and you’re still uncertain as to the types of wagers that are available to be played. Read on, because all that information follows. Even if you’re a savvy sports bettor, we’ve got all of the latest promos and offers from sportsbooks that can save money and enhance odds for Week 1 of the NFL season.
Several more NFL states are offering sports betting this year than last season. That means the opportunities to wager and win on the NFL are more abundant than ever before:
States That Can Bet | Signing Up at Online Sportsbooks | Best NFL Promos | Cowboys vs Buccaneers Odds | Best Bet
States That Can Legally Bet On The NFL Online
State | Sportsbooks Available |
---|---|
Arizona* | DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, Barstool Sportsbook |
Colorado | FanDuel, DraftKings, FOX Bet, BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook |
Illinois | FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, Barstool Sportsbook, PointsBet |
Indiana | FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook, TwinSpires |
Iowa | FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, PointsBet |
Michigan | FanDuel, DraftKings, FOX Bet, BetRivers, Barstool Sportsbook |
New Jersey | FanDuel, DraftKings, Barstool Sportsbook, Caesars, BetMGM |
Pennsylvania | FanDuel, DraftKings, Barstool Sportsbook, FOX Bet, BetMGM |
Tennessee | FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, WynnBET |
Virginia | FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook, WynnBET |
West Virginia | FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, PointsBet |
*Arizona launches legal online sports betting on September 9
There are currently 10 US states that offer legal, regulated online sports betting on the NFL. Arizona will join the fray on September 9, the day after the Cowboys and Buccaneers clash in the NFL season opener. As well, Maryland and New York are moving rapidly toward the legalization of online sports betting.
Just four more days until football! 🏈 (by @DIRECTV) @Buccaneers | @dallascowboys
📺: #Kickoff2021 — Thursday at 8:20pm ET on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app pic.twitter.com/ANEKvbHnOQ— NFL (@NFL) September 5, 2021
Michigan and Virginia have joined the fray since the start of the 2020 NFL season. Let’s look at a complete list and the leading betting sites in each of those states where bettors can place a wager on the NFL during the 2021 season.
How to Sign Up at an Online Sportsbook for NFL Season
Everyone who’s ever stood in line at the DMV or been on hold awaiting customer service knows how painstaking and time consuming a process it can be. The good news is that signing up at an online betting site is nothing at all like that.
It’s about as painless a process as you’ll ever experience. It all begins by clicking on the signup icon on the sportsbook’s web page. That will open up a form upon which new customers will fill in such personal information as first and last names, home address, gender, date of birth, email address and phone number.
Next, the sports betting site must verify that this information is in fact true. This is done through copies of official documents supplied by the applicant, such as a driver’s licence or a passport. Players will be notified via email and given a code to insert on the betting site’s web page in order to complete the verification process.
Week 1 is here. Cowboys, Buccaneers helmets are lit up at The Star. pic.twitter.com/RWq52NOywJ
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 2, 2021
Now that the account is open, a new player will want to fund their account in order to be able to place bets. There are numerous options to do so. These can include traditional forms such as credit or debit cards, online banking, ewallets like PayPal, echecks, prepaid cards and bank transfers. Newcomers will want to check out all the options ahead of time before choosing one. Some funding methods will only be valid for deposit and not for withdrawal.
Best NFL Promos for 2021 Season
Several of the leading online sports betting sites are providing promotional offers in conjunction with the launch of the NFL season. That isn’t the least bir surprising. When it comes to sports betting, the NFL is far away the king both in the number of wagers played and the amount of revenue generated.
Let’s look at the most prominent offers currently available to NFL bettors to take advantage of to place a wager on the Buccaneers-Cowboys season opener.
2021 NFL Sportsbook Promo Offers
Sportsbook | Promo |
---|---|
DraftKings | Bet $1 on Any NFL Game, Instantly Get $200 |
DraftKings | Get the Buccaneers +73 Points |
FanDuel | Get a No Sweat Bet Up to $1,000 |
Barstool Sportsbook | Get a $1,000 Risk-Free Bet |
PointsBet | |
PointsBet |
While it’s not an NFL-specific promotion, bettors can also take advantage of the $5,000 first bet offer currently being offered by Caesars sportsbook. Follow the Caesars sportsbook link to choose the promo for your state.
Cowboys vs Buccaneers Odds
The betting line establishes the odds and the methods through which a wager can be placed on an NFL game. There are three options available to bettors – the moneyline, the point spread and the total.
Let’s take a look at the odds on the Dallas-Tampa Bay game and then we’ll talk about how to make a play in each category and what that entails.
Cowboys vs Buccaneers Odds
Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Dallas Cowboys | +280 | +7 (-105) | O 51.5 (-110) |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | -365 | -7 (-115) | U 51.5 (-110) |
Odds as of September 5th at DraftKings.
When it comes to sports betting, moneyline wagering is the most common form of bet played. On the surface, it’s a simple play – a bettor is choosing either the home or away team to win the game outright. The favorite is indicated by a negative number, while the underdog is assigned the positive number.
In this instance, the Buccaneers are listed as heavy -320 favorites to win the game. What does that mean? All moneyline wagering numbers are based on a $100 bet. In this case, the number listed on the Buccaneers indicates how much money a bettor would be required to wager on Tampa Bay in order to realize a $100 profit.
Dallas #Cowboys RG Zach Martin has tested positive for COVID-19, per @clarencehilljr
He’ll miss the Cowboys regular season opener against the #Buccaneers on Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/b67Jh8zLKv
— TWSN (@TWSN___) September 5, 2021
On the other hand, the Cowboys are showing as +280 underdogs. The moneyline underdog number is inverted from the example of the favorite. This is showing that a $100 wager on Dallas will bring a +280 profit should the Cowboys win the game.
Point spread betting is designed to offer balance between the two teams in terms of money bet. Oddsmakers seek to balance the books in terms of wagers placed on a game by giving points to the underdog and laying points on the favorite. If betting sites find that their is heavy action on one team in point spread wagering, they will move the line in order to get bettors to wager on the other team.
A bet on Tampa Bay in this game will require the Buccaneers to win by more than seven points in order to cash a winning ticket. Dallas bettors will draw the benefit of starting with a seven-point advantage. Those who wager on the Cowboys will be winners if Dallas wins the game outright, or loses by less than seven points.
The number in brackets following the point spread indicates the profit that will be realized from a winning wager. For Dallas, the line is -105, meaning a $105 wager would garner a profit of $100.
One week til Cowboys at Buccaneers.
“We’re in gameplan mode,” Mike McCarthy tells us. Down and distance, game plan, scheme specific, third down work awaits at practice today.
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 2, 2021
The total, also known as the over/under, is another popular way to wager on NFL games. With this bet, it doesn’t matter which team wins the game. The only factor that is counted is the total points scored during the game.
For the Dallas-Tampa Bay game, the total has been esablished at 51.5 points. Bettors can either wager on the two teams going over or coming in under that number. On this particular wager, bettors will get -110 odds whichever way they opt to play it. That means they’ll need to bet $110 to gain a $100 profit.
Best Bet to Make on Cowboys vs Buccaneers
There are several options when betting on the Cowboys-Buccaneers game. The numerous promo offers available on this game offered from the various online sportsbooks, present some intriguing possibilities.
Cowboys ve Buccaneers … It's going to be a great time! pic.twitter.com/32dshbMIEs
— Bottle Rockets Bar (@BarRockets) September 2, 2021
The best bet looks to be a combination of two DraftKings promotional offers. For starters, take their $1 offer at 200-1 odds and bet in on the Cowboys at +280 in the moneyline. A Dallas upset win on this wager would deliver a $280 profit.
Couple that with a play on DraftKings Tampa Bay +73 points offer. As long as Tampa Bay doesn’t lose by 74 or more points, this bet will be a winner.

Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.