AFC Championship Odds, Favorites to Win, Best Bets 2023/24

• Check out our best AFC Championship Odds 2023 to help you make the smartest bets
• The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs are the favorites to win the AFC Championship (+330) and the Super Bowl (+600) 
• The AFC Championship Game will be hosted by the top seed remaining at that stage on January 28, 2024

The 2023 NFL season is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent history, especially with all of the power that resides in the AFC. 

Top quarterback talents such as Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, and others will all have their teams believing that they are the rightful heirs to the AFC throne this fall. But which of them are true contenders, and which are just pretenders?

In this AFC Championship betting guide, we are going to recap and react to what the oddsmakers feel about the AFC heading into the new NFL campaign. 

AFC Championship Odds

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook

Favorites to Win the AFC Championship this Season

Kansas City Chiefs (+330)

The Chiefs are the unsurprising favorite to win the AFC on the back of their Super Bowl win in February. They have appeared in five straight AFC Championship Games across all five years that reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes has been the full-time starter. They also gave their rookies a ton of minutes last year, which figures to make them even better this time around.

Buffalo Bills (+500)

The Bills are teetering on the edge of “Super Bowl or bust” and “missed their window.” Josh Allen acknowledged his mortality during the offseason and said that he can’t be so reckless running the ball to preserve his health. Buffalo still has an elite roster and one of the best QBs but has come up short a few years running and lost its best defensive player, Tremaine Edmunds, during the offseason.

Cincinnati Bengals (+550)

The Bengals made the Super Bowl two years ago against all expectations but are now perennial AFC championship contenders. Joe Burrow is the coolest customer in the league and has the league’s best three-man receiving corps of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. Cinci’s defense is also incredibly solid despite being overlooked because of the offense, though it lost both starting safeties during free agency.

AFC Championship Pick

Kansas City Chiefs (+330)

Picking future winners is all about getting the team with the greatest likelihood of winning the conference—sometimes that lines up with the oddsmakers' views, and sometimes it does not. In this instance, it does.

The Chiefs have made 100% of the possible championship games with Mahomes under center and have won three of the five. Their best competition has been the Bengals, and the Baltimore Ravens are also a sneaky contender, but the Chiefs have earned the benefit of the doubt (not that there is any doubt with this cast).  

Who Won the AFC Championship in 2022?

The Chiefs won the AFC Championship Game in 2022, defeating the Bengals 23-20. Harrison Butker drilled a 45-yard field goal with three seconds left to get Kansas City over the hump.

Mahomes finished the game with 326 yards and two touchdowns, while Burrow racked up 270 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Neither team ran the ball particularly well.

AFC Championship Winner History

The NFC and AFC were formed in 1970 when the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL), splitting the league into two distinct conferences. The Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts) defeated the Oakland Raiders (Las Vegas Raiders) 27-17 in the first AFC Championship Game.

The winner of the AFC Championship Game earns a bid in the Super Bowl against the NFC champion and also takes home the Lamar Hunt trophy, named after the founder of the AFL.

History of Past AFC Champions

Popular NFL Futures Bets

NFL bettors can place wagers on a variety of futures markets, both long-term and short-term, depending on when the bets are placed.

Futures bets are available for team and player performances. The closer the finish line on the bets, the more lopsided the bets usually are in favor of the prospective winner. Betting futures far away from the completion date is therefore usually more profitable, unless there is a huge upset or reversal in fortunes late into the season.

Here are different kinds of futures bets that are available.

Regular Season Wins

Bettors can find project win totals for every team in the league and wager on whether or not the team will exceed that total. Win totals are usually set at x.5 so that there are no pushes (draws). For example, the Bengals have a projected win total of 11.5, so 11 wins or fewer would be under, and 12 or more would be over.

Record Breakers

There is a selection of record breakers bets available at the start of every season. They target players that are either close to historical achievements or have shown a propensity or ability to challenge for all-time marks. 

An example of a record breakers bet is Patrick Mahomes to throw for the most yards in a single NFL season. He just threw for 5,250 last season, which is just about 13.3 yards per game extra off the all-time mark.

Player Totals

Bettors can also bet on player single-season totals in different areas, including passing and rushing totals, sacks, interceptions, and more. These are correlated to but still distinctly different from awards betting (which we discuss below).

Award Winners

Players can also throw down bets on which athletes will win different awards, including MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, and more. These bets can be placed from the first day post-Super Bowl all the way until the end of the season, but the odds are constantly changing.

How to Choose the Best Sportsbook for Betting on the AFC Championship

Choosing the best online sportsbook can seem like a daunting process, but it is actually not all that bad. We have provided a guide on how to pick the best sportsbook for your NFL betting pleasure, which we encourage you to read.

Make sure to try out different sportsbooks and find the one that you are the most comfortable with before making any long-term commitments.

AFC Championship Winner Odds

There’s a very simple way to remember how odds work.

If the odds value starts with a “-,” that means that bettors have to risk the listed amount to win $100. For example, -400 odds means that a $400 bet will result in a $100 profit. Lines with “-” are usually (but not always) the favored outcome, or the one that is expected to occur.

If the odds value is preceded by a “+,” that means that a $100 bet will win the listed amount. So, +400 odds means that a $100 bet will result in $400 of profit.   

Welcome Bonus

NFL betting sites offer constant welcome bonuses to new users to make the sign-up process more enjoyable and profitable. Bonuses can result in all sorts of prizes, including money-back in bet credits if the first bet loses, guaranteed bonus bets, odds boosts, deposit matches, and much more.

Payment Options

Every sportsbook will accept different forms of payment, although almost all of them have the same basic options. You can find more information about what payment methods are available at a particular sportsbook by consulting our sportsbook reviews or navigating to the deposit section of your sportsbook.