Once again this year, the proposition bets are the main focus of Super Bowl betting, with dozens of articles addressing them appearing in various media and hundreds of props available to bet.
The prop on the time it takes to sing the National Anthem is now a staple of every Super Bowl, and whether you actually have a bet on it or not, it’s fun to use your phone to time it. This year’s line on the length of time it will take Lady Gaga to sing the Anthem is 2:20.
Here’s the history on this bet, listing the respective performers since 2008, the line, and the result:
2015 Idina Menzel: 2:01 - Over 2014 Renee Fleming: 2:20 - Under 2013 Alicia Keys: 2:05 - Over 2012 Kelly Clarkson: 1:34 - Over 2011 Christina Aguilera: 1:54 - Over 2010 Carrie Underwood: 1:42 - Over 2009 Jennifer Hudson: 2:04 - Over 2008 Jordin Sparks: 1:47 – Over
This year’s Gaga line in relation to the history of the bet presents a dilemma. The record since 2008 is 7-1 to the over, but the lone under winner was … bingo, a line of 2:20. Under sounds good, but you have to lay -200 (bet $200 to win $100) to take that side. It’s mostly academic, though, since the bet isn’t offered by Nevada sports books and can be found only at offshore locations where most don’t have accounts or even betting access.
Don’t despair, there are plenty of bets that you can make in the Nevada sports books. Two popular ones are "who will score the first touchdown," where the Field, which is any player not on the odds list, was the opening-line favorite at +600, and "who will be the MVP," with Cam Newton the -140 fave. There’s never been an overtime in a Super Bowl, and "no overtime" is a big favorite, at -800.
While the Nevada books don’t put up the wild bets found at the offshore books, they’ve gotten creative this year with "cross-sport" props, which match a Super Bowl result with another sport. This year there are cross-sport bets involving basketball, baseball, soccer, rugby, golf, hockey, and the UFC. For example, Lionel Messi is a big favorite to score more goals Sunday vs. first-quarter field goals; all goals scored in the NHL on Sunday (-1.5), are favored over total points scored in the second quarter, and the number of rounds in the UFC’s Hendricks/Thompson main event (-.5) is pick ’em against total made field goals in the game. You can check out the entire 400 or so propositions available at Westgate’s SuperBook at LVASports.
Of course, the sizzle props, including the Anthem bet, are at the offshore books. Here are some of the good ones, several coming from Bovada.com (favorite side indicated).
• Will Beyonce’s belly button be visible during her halftime performance? YES -120
• Will Peyton Manning announce his retirement in the live post-game interview? NO -1,000
• How many times will "dab" or "dabbing" be said by announcers during the broadcast? Under 2/-140
• Will the Panthers player who scores the first TD give the ball to a boy or a girl? Boy -200
• Will Ted Ginn, Jr. drop a pass? YES -130
• How many wings will Buffalo Wild Wings sell on Super Bowl day? OVER 12 million -300
• What color will the liquid be that’s poured on the winning coach? Orange +130 Blue +225 Clear +600 Yellow +600 Red +1000 Green +1000 Purple +1000
It’s all part of what makes the Super Bowl the biggest single-day betting event in the world.
