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Football is back. The Hall of Fame Game kicks off the NFL preseason on Thursday, August 6, 2026, with the Arizona Cardinals facing the Carolina Panthers at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Kickoff is 8 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.
The timing is fitting: Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald and Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly headline the Hall of Fame Class of 2026, so both fan bases have a legend going into Canton the same weekend.
Below are the current odds, the real betting splits from the Pikkit community and how to approach the first football bet of the year.
Lines as of August 6, 2026. Preseason numbers move fast, so confirm the current price at your book before you bet.
Spread: The line has drifted toward a pick'em, with some books showing Cardinals -1.5 as bettors back the underdog and others have the Panthers -1.5 as the slight favorite.
Total: 34.5 points. A few books have it at 33 and 35.
Moneyline: Panthers -113 and Cardinals +108, close to a coin flip.
Here is where the Pikkit community is actually putting its money, not just where the line sits.
Pikkit Bettors are backing the Cardinals Moneyline with ~60% of the bets and money. They are also heavily invested in the under with ~69% of the bets and money backing the under!
Splits are useful because they show you the side the public is leaning. When a heavy majority is on one side but the line is not moving with it, that tells you something about where the sharper money sits. Track how these numbers shift as kickoff approaches.
Preseason betting is its own animal. A few things to keep in mind before you place a bet on the opener.
Starters don't play. In a preseason opener, starters typically will not play a snap. The game is typically set for back-up players and guys trying to make the team. Kenny Pickett is starting for the Panthers and rookie Carsen Beck for the Cardinals.
Coaching approach is a real edge. Some coaches game-plan and want a fast start in the opener, others treat it purely as evaluation. How a staff has handled past Hall of Fame Games is more predictive than the regular-season talent gap.
Totals can be sharp reads. With vanilla play-calling and long clock-running stretches, preseason unders are a common angle, though a game full of hurry-up backup drives can flip that quickly. Weigh the pace both staffs are likely to want.
Bet smaller than you would in the regular season. There is more uncertainty in a preseason game than almost any other spot on the calendar. Size your bets for that uncertainty.
For a full primer on the markets and terms, see our guide on how to bet on the NFL, and the sports betting glossary has definitions for anything above.
If you are getting down on the opener, do it at a book with a strong sign-up offer so your first bet goes further. Our sportsbook bonuses page tracks the current welcome offers so you can grab value before kickoff.
Once your bets are in, Pikkit tracks them automatically. Pikkit's BookSync syncs your sportsbooks so every Hall of Fame Game bet lands in your bet tracker without manual entry, and the splits and popular players above come straight from the same community data. By the time the regular season starts, you already have a record of how your preseason reads performed.
Download Pikkit to track your Hall of Fame Game bets and see what the rest of the community is backing.
As of August 6, 2026, the game is basically a pick'em in the Carolina Panthers vs Arizona Cardinals matchup. The total sits around 34.5 points. Preseason lines move quickly, so confirm the current number before betting.
The 2026 NFL Hall of Fame Game is Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 8 PM ET at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. It's airing on NBC and Peacock. It is the first game of the NFL preseason.
It can be, but it plays differently from the regular season. Starters play limited snaps, so backups and coaching approach drive the result. Many bettors stick to totals and player props and bet smaller amounts given the added uncertainty.
Betting splits show what percentage of bettors are on each side of a market. The splits on this page come from the Pikkit community and update as the game approaches, so you can see which way the public is leaning on the spread, total, and moneyline.
Yes. Pikkit's BookSync syncs your sportsbooks and imports every bet automatically into your bet tracker, so your Hall of Fame Game action is recorded alongside the rest of your season without any manual logging.
