Super Bowl Bets: Wacky or Valid?

The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the United States, with an average of 99.2 million viewers. There is also an estimated 30 to 50 million viewers around the world. With such a largely watched event, with a lot of moving parts, there are countless bets being made all around the world. Yet, there are some bets that seem almost ridiculous to put money on.

The Super Bowl bets range anywhere from events during the actual game, the commercials, the halftime show, and the winning celebration. This year, the bets covered all four areas in incredible wonky ways.

Chris Stapleton sung the National Anthem during the pregame. There were two main bets surrounding Stapleton. The first was how long—more or less than 119.5 seconds—his rendition of the National Anthem was going to be, from the first note to the final breath. The second, was due to the two outstanding offenses competing in the Super Bowl. This led to a bet on if any scoring drive would be shorter than the length of time it takes for Chris Stapleton to sing the National Anthem.

Most bets surrounded the game. There were bets on whether the game would be completed without a touchdown, whether a kicker would hit the goal post, or whether the game would go into overtime.

The strangest in game bet, was whether a player would leave the game and not return due to concussion symptoms. “This bet is honestly horrible. Would you feel good about winning that money if somebody did get a severe concussion? Probably not,” says Liliana Martinez.

There were more specific bets, like what the largest lead of the game would be—over or under 14.5 points— whether a kicker would kick a 60 plus yard field goal, the first drive result—punt, offensive touchdown, field goal attempt, or any other result—whether there’d be a special or defensive touchdown score, what jersey number would score first, whether there’d be a safety, or if any player would score three plus rushing or receiving touchdowns.

Super Bowl LVII graphic.

There were also a number of bets surrounding the postgame. There was a bet on who the Super Bowl MVP would thank first: his teammates, his coach, his family, his owner, God, or nobody at all. The classic postgame bet is what color the Gatorade thrown on the winning coach would be. This year, orange was favored over green or yellow, red, blue, purple, and clear/water.

Some of the more interesting post game bets included Kansas City Chiefs’ coach, Andy Reid. There was a bet on whether he would be doused in BBQ sauce after the game if the Chiefs won. Another one was put on Donna Kelce, the mom of two Super Bowl players on opposing teams: Travis and Jason Kelce. There was a bet on which Kelce brother the mom would hug first following the results of the game.

The halftime show, performed by Rhianna, was a popular part of the Super Bowl to bet on. There were bets on whether Rhianna would show any cleavage during her performance, whether there’d be a wardrobe malfunction, what color she would wear, and whether a football would be used as a prop or not.

There were also bets on what Rhianna’s first song would be: Diamonds, Don’t Stop the Music, Rude Boy, Umbrella, We Found Love, Where Have You Been, or one not listed. The same bet held for her last song as well. There was even a bet on how many songs she would perform.

The commercials are also a big betting area because of how iconic some of the commercials are. This year, there was a bet on who would have the first commercial after kickoff: Doritos, Avocadoes from Mexico, M&M’s, Budweiser, and many more. After the impact Burger King had on the regular season, there was also a bet on how many times “Whopper” would be said during the game’s commercials.

There were also a lot of miscellaneous bets that don’t really fit into the game, halftime, postgame, or commercials. After Tom Brady’s recent retirement, and incredible Super Bowl history, there was a bet on how many times Tom Brady would be mentioned on the broadcast between kickoff and the final buzzer—over or under 1.5 times.

The Super Bowl is a rather large event, so there were multiple bets on which celebrities would be shown on television, including: Bradley Cooper, Kevin Hart, Mike Trout, Brad Pitt, Miles Teller, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more.

Nick Sirianni, the Eagles’ head coach, has grown quite aware of the sideline cameras and have started to interact with them throughout the game. There was a bet on whether he would stick his tongue out on camera or not. There was even a bet on whether there would be a streaker at some point during the game.

There are an insane number of bets during Super Bowl Sunday. Some seem fairly normal, while others are just weird. Would you bet on these things, or would you save your money for a rainy day instead?