If you follow Shady Sports Network at all you will begin to realize we more or less have a representative that follows every alternative football league. Whether that is the United Football League, Canadian Football League, or the various indoor football leagues, we have a show that covers them all.
On top of that one of us is likely an avid bettor on one of or multiple of these leagues. We decided its time to put our picks all in one spot for fans of alternative leagues. We will cover where to bet on each league, as well as the individual bets we like with a brief explanation.
This is by no means intended to be taken as expert advice. Call it educated guesses based on our following for each league. With that in mind, in this article we will cover the UFL, CFL, IFL, and now that they have a betting app available the NAL. If you happened across this article for UFL, or CFL advice please do check back in closer to the start of their seasons.
We will start with the NAL (National Arena League currently heading into week 2 and then go to the IFL (Indoor Football League) heading into week 1.
Table of Contents
National Arena League: NAL
Total Games this Week: 5
Betting Service: MyBookie.com
As announced just before the start of the 2026 season, My Bookie and the National Arena League teamed up. Over the past two weeks, we have seen them outlining, though mostly just money-line bets. Even with that in mind, you can find value in a few of these games.
How to bet:
My Bookie is in fact an Offshore Sports betting platform, giving most fans the ability to utilize the platform through a series of loopholes. In total 46 states have that full ability, excluding Nevada, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, and Washington DC whom have restrictions on Credit/Debit card usage.
The first thing you will need for the best user experience will be an app like Coinbase or Crypto.com. Once you have made an account it’s simple to buy one of the “coins” that are accepted by My Bookie, the three biggest are pictured below.
Next make a wallet, the aforementioned sites both have a wallet you can download and use to make the process simple. We won’t go into great detail, but if you’re interested there are plenty of videos explaining the process of buying the crypto and transferring to a wallet on YouTube.
Best Bang for your buck
This is the section where we look at the different ways you can go about betting on the games. As mentioned above there are only money line bets (this week) and no parlays, but you can still make it fun. Each of the next three sections is based on a hypothetical deposit of fifty dollars spread out across some or all four available games, or just a couple. Refer back to the lines posted below as you read along.
Big Risk Big Reward
Take Pueblo Punishers +155
After watching the Punishers dismantle the Spartans in week one you have to wonder how good they really are. Or is it a down year for Colorado? If we see the same level of production out of Shaw and Dillsworth it could spell trouble for Omaha. It’s long shot but they do seem to have enough to best the always dominant Beef. The game is Omaha and it will play a major factor. We have our doubts that Pueblo pulls it off, but if you’re rooting for the underdog, and want to take a big risk this is it.
If you do the max bet of 24.75 wins 38.36
Total In Account w/ a Punishers win: 63.11$
Amarillo Warbirds for the win?
Take Amarillo Warbirds +120
The second half of this section comes out of Amarillo Texas. The Sioux City Bandits, one of the oldest and most storied franchises in the game heads south to take on the still relatively unknown Amarillo Warbirds. The Warbirds are coming off of a win over Louisiana that saw them have to bat down a pass on a game deciding two point conversation. It’s a risk, but the confidence coming from a big first game (ever) first win could push them to victory. We don’t think it will happen but this is the most likely of the games for a true upset
If you do the max bet of 24.75$ wins 29.70$
Winnings+Original Wager w/ a Warbirds win: 54.65$
If you split your 50 between both and they win:
Total Wager: 49.50$
Total Winnings: 117.76$
Safe and Profitable
Take SWK Storm +110
After coming off a heartbreaking home loss, Louisiana has had a good bit of roster turnover and all the small growing pains of a rebuilding franchise. All of that factored in it is quite surprising that they are favored over Southwest Kansas. While this is the Storm’s first game it shouldn’t be a tough win. The Rouxgaroux have made a habit of starting slow, the Storm will get up early and never relinquish the lead.
If you do the max bet of 24.75 wins 27.24$
Winnings+Original Wager w/ a Warbirds win: 51.98$
Take Sioux City -205
We have already covered the Bandits-Warbirds game in detail, in a previous section, but we are confident in Coach Erb and his current roster to take care of business. The reason we chose this game of all the safe bets, was the profit you will pull, which greatly exceeds Omaha or Colorado!
If you bet 25.25 ( To round out the 50$) it wins 12.32$
Winnings+Original Wager w/ a Bandits wins 37.57$
Underdog Chaos
We really don’t recommend this one, but it is an option. It will be a part of any future versions of this article, paired with the two more realistic options above. It’s fun to see the cash chaos can bring!
Take Dallas 12.23$ Wins 23.24$
Take Amarillo 12.23 Wins 14.68$
Take Southwest Kansas 12.23$ Wins 14.35$
Take Pueblo 12.23$ Wins 18.96$
If you split your 50 between all four and they win:
Total Wager: 50.00$
Total Winnings: $121.23
Indoor Football League (IFL)
Number of Games: 2
Betting Service: Draft Kings Sportsbook
The Indoor Football League is finally set to kick off this weekend with two games that are sure to leave IFL fans wanting more football. The Quad City Steamwheelers travel to Fisher’s Indiana to take on the Freight, while the Vegas Knighthawks will travel to Green Bay and see if they can survive the Blizzard and start off their title defense on the right foot. This game is also the Hall of Fame game when two players will be added to the IFL Hall of Fame.
Since there are only two games this week and currently the spreads have not been published anywhere as of yet, we will simply take a look at the games at hand, and give your best guess as to the lines we expect, and the winners we are predicting at this time. Given this situation we will be making bets based on winners alone, and not utilizing a projection as the line for the game in our bets.
One thing is for sure, both of these games are going to be hard fought, and entertaining match ups between 4 teams who should be considered championship contenders in 2026. With that in mind as we said before, please only bet responsibly and catch us tomorrow at 8 am Eastern time to give you any need-to-know details before you place your bets for week 1.
Quad City at Fishers Projected Line: Fishers -3
Both of these teams have built very talented rosters for the 2026 season. Quad City in particular looks very dangerous on offense with the retention of Daquan Neal, Jarrod Ware, Keyvan Rudd, and Jordan Vesey the team was already going to be tough to stop, then they added Quian Williams. The 2025 triple-crown winner who played for Iowa. Williams instantly becomes the WR1, shifting attention away from Rudd and Vesey, and freeing up running lanes for Ware.
Meanwhile Fishers has also done their best to surround their QB1: Felix Harper with talent. Signing Cj Windham and Isaiah Coulter were huge moves for the Freight, while retaining not one but two 220+ pound backs in a ruleset that lends itself to the run game was a smart move. They also signed electric return man Jerron McGaw, and Offensive Weapon Jordan Davis.
Davis is a former quarterback who is currently the only depth at QB behind Harper. A rookie coming out of Wofford University, the 6’2 225 pound player could be an asset on offense if utilized correctly. His skillset lends itself to being a versatile playmaker who can take snaps at QB, WR, RB, and special teams. He could even be used as an emergency linebacker if desperate.
With all of this in mind, and the thought that Fishers is at home in this game, I suspect the line for this game will slant in Fishers’ direction. I don’t expect a strong lean toward Fishers however. A -3 or less in their favor seems like a fair play in this game. I will however be picking Quad City to win this game.
Their offense looks like it will be tough to stop, as will Fishers’, but my gut tells me the Steamwheelers roll to victory on the road. Although I do anticipate a close game. I would be surprised to see more than a 8 point deficit at the end of this game. I have QC winning this game 64 to 57.
Vegas at Green Bay Projected Line: Vegas -1
It is hard to favor any team on the road in any league, let alone against a team you expect to be a championship contender, however in this scenario, Green Bay is a team I believe will get better as the season progresses, but come out of the gate somewhat sluggish given the relative youth at the quarterback position. While both teams sport players who were rookies in 2025, Liam Thompson for Green Bay rode the bench in Bay Area, while Jayden De Laura went on to start in the playoffs and win a Championship with Vegas, before returning in 2026 as their QB1.
While the two situations are similar, they are far from the same. Vegas has had over a full season with De Laura, meaning he likely has a firm grasp on the playbook, and more importantly he has the trust of his play-caller who chose to bench the 2024 IFL MVP in favor of De Laura down the stretch.
Hurtis Chinn is arguably the best offensive mind in the IFL, and if you have his blessing at quarterback you are likely to be among the top players in the league, which is exactly what I expect De Laura to be by the end of the season.
For Green Bay Liam Thompson is not a stranger to the indoor game at this point, so while he may not have started games in 2025 for Bay Area due to Josh Jones lighting it up all year, Thompson did receive some of the best coaching he could have asked for during his time in the Bay.
Tutored by Rod Windsor, another very well respected offensive mind in the IFL, Thompson should be further along than any rookie Green Bay could have signed for 2026. To be clear, I expect Thompson to finish the season as a top 10 quarterback in the league, but he will likely have some bumps in the road, especially early in the season.
With all that being said it’s near impossible for me to pick Green Bay with their uncertainty at quarterback heading into their first game of 2026 over the well-oiled machine that Mike Davis and company run in Vegas. Currently Vegas is my favorite for another IFL championship appearance and it begins in week one with a win over Green Bay on the road.
In this game I suspect the line will favor Vegas given their recent title win, but I believe they will keep the line tight to a “pick-em” spread given the recent success of both teams. Ultimately Vegas will win this game, and it should shock no one if it is a decisive win at that. I have Vegas winning this one 56-42.
Final Thoughts
Overall this is a weekend most think that they already have the winners pinned, but it’s indoor football, and none of us really know how each game will end! If you take any of the three let us know in the comment section on any Shady Sports social media. Enjoy the games and bet responsibly!
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