Top 4 Super Bowl LVIII Novelty Prop Bets (2024)
One of my favorite parts about the Super Bowl is being able to bet on just about anything surrounding the game, including things like the national anthem, coin toss, halftime show and even what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach.
So, if you haven’t realized it yet, this article won’t be a breakdown of the Xs and Os between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. Although, I have written a breakdown of the actual game, too.
Instead, in this piece, we’ll attempt to guess how long Reba McEntire sings, which song Usher will open his halftime show with and much more. Here’s a breakdown of the best Super Bowl bets that have almost nothing to do with the game itself.
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Best Super Bowl LVIII Novelty Prop Bets
Some Thoughts on the Coin Toss
Is there anything more degenerate than putting money on the flip of a coin? I’m not sure, but that’s not stopping us from doing it.
Whether you want to start your betting card off with a complete game of chance is up to you. But if you do, there’s one thing you must do: don’t bet the toss at any sportsbook that isn’t giving you even odds.
The coin toss is truly a 50/50 proposition, meaning any ethical sportsbook should give you +100 odds on either side. DraftKings Sportsbook is offering even-money on both heads and tails.
For what it’s worth, tails is 30-27 (53%) in the Super Bowl and has hit in three of the last five games, including last year, when Kansas City called and won the toss with tails. Tails has also gone 6-4 over the last 10 Super Bowls. The 49ers will be calling the toss in this game as the designated road team, for what that’s worth. But really, no trends actually matter when it comes to the coin toss.
Go with your gut. I tend to go with heads over tails, just to spit in the face of the “tails never fails†motto. Just make sure it’s a +100 bet, please!
The National Anthem Could Be Quick
Reba McEntire will sing the national anthem at Allegiant Stadium, and oddly enough, we’ve seen some line movement on this prop. After opening at 84.5 seconds, it was bet up to 87.5 seconds, then back down to 86.5 seconds, before once again being bet up to the current number of 90.5 seconds.
Regardless, these odds suggest a much shorter anthem than the historical average of 115.4 seconds.
I’ve done extensive research and found several videos of McEntire singing our national anthem. Granted, most of these were dated from the late 90’s or even earlier, but it’s enough to get the gist of McEntire’s style.
In each of the videos I watched, Reba came out firing with fast-paced renditions. My very unofficial timing clocked all of these at or below 90 seconds.
McEntire’s quick cadence in the past has me worried. But there’s a chance that the 68-year-old country singer belts out this year’s rendition at a slightly slower pace just because of age alone. Plus, this is the Super Bowl, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her drag things out a bit longer, given the grand stage in Vegas. Oh, and word just came out that NBC is giving McEntire another chance to star in a sitcom, so there’s a promotional angle here.
We haven’t had a national anthem go shorter than 1:30 since Billy Joel sang it in 2007. I don’t think McEntire breaks the streak. It might not be by much, but I see Reba going over 90.5 seconds.
Halftime
I found Usher to be a strange choice to headline the Super Bowl, as it feels like he would’ve been the more appropriate choice 10 years ago. But he does have an album coming out on Feb. 9, so it makes some sense. Plus, I’ll admit that “Yeah!†used to be my message tone on AOL Instant Messenger. Those were the good ole days…
One of my favorite parts of the Super Bowl is taking a stab at which song the artist will lead their Super Bowl halftime show with. It gives me a reason to stay glued to my seat even after the action pauses.
Setlist websites have made this task easier. The problem is Usher hasn’t been doing a ton of touring lately, aside from a few pop-up shows to close 2023 after his Las Vegas residency concluded.
From the info I can gather, the wildly popular “Yeah!†probably won’t be Usher’s lead-off song. In fact, the data I found revealed that “My Way†was his most popular song to start his sets over the last year. “My Way†is one of his earliest hits from his second album, released in 1997. And while it isn’t incredibly fast-paced, it has enough tempo to start the show.
“My Way†is currently +100 to be the first song played, which feels like decent odds for a total crapshoot bet. I also don’t mind “OMG,†with slightly longer odds in the +150 range to lead the show. “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love†isn’t a bad long shot at 8/1.
I’ll go with the slightly longer shot in “OMG†to start the show, as it has a good balance of pace and popularity.
The Gatorade Bath
History typically doesn’t matter regarding the Gatorade bath dumped on the winning head coach. But obviously, last year’s Super Bowl winner is back in the big game, making history relevant. Last year, Andy Reid was dunked in purple Gatorade, and that color has gone from being a long shot a year ago (odds ranged from +750 to +1000 last year) to the odds-on favorite at +225 per DraftKings Sportsbook. However, when Kansas City won the Super Bowl a few years ago against the 49ers, Reid was doused in orange Gatorade.
Since 2010, orange has been the most popular color, appearing five times on the winning coach’s outfit. Blue has appeared four times, purple and none have occurred twice, and yellow has appeared only once.
Interestingly, you can bet on no Gatorade bath at 16/1 on DraftKings, but what’s the fun in that? I’ll take a stab at both orange and red. Again, this is complete speculation, but teams can be superstitious. I could see Kansas City going with the same color of Gatorade that they dumped on Reid in the first meeting to maximize good voodoo. On the flip side, I guess San Francisco chooses red Gatorade to match their team colors.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Tuesday: