Arena Football League sports betting comes to an end on Friday night as the Spokane Shock host the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Bowl. Both teams won close battles in their Conference Championship games to reach the title game. Spokane just got past Milwaukee 60-57 while Tampa Bay edged Orlando 63-62 but neither team covered the online sports betting odds.
Sports betting odds will likely favor the Shock in the Arena Bowl since they finished the regular season with the better record and because they are at home. Spokane was 13-3 this season while Tampa Bay was 11-5. The Storm was fortunate to get past Orlando as they had to survive a missed field goal by Orlando as time expired. Orlando came back from 21 points down against Tampa Bay and actually led 56-55 late in the game. The Storm took the lead 63-56 with under a minute to go but Orlando scored moments later. They would have tied the game but got two straight penalties on the point after try and then it was missed. Brett Dietz led the Storm as he threw for 260 yards and 7 TDs.
Spokane advanced by getting past Milwaukee 60-57. The Shock got off to a solid start but Milwaukee came back in the second half to make things interesting. Spokane quarterback Nick Rowley threw for 334 yards and seven touchdowns. Huey Whittaker had 14 catches for 165 yards and four touchdowns.
The experience edge will be with Tampa as they will be playing in their eighth Arena Bowl. The Storm have been a very good team on the road as they are 12-3-2 ATS in their last 17 road games. Spokane has been solid at home though as they are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games.
Looking at the total, the last five Spokane home games have all gone under. Six of their last eight games overall have gone under. The offensive edge goes to Spokane as they averaged just over 61 points per game this season but the defensive edge goes to Tampa as they allowed 49.2 points per game.
If the Arena Bowl is anything like the Conference Championship games then fans should get a real treat as the two best teams in the league meet on Friday night in Spokane in a game that can be seen on the NFL Network.