LOSE SOME CASH ON SUPER BOWL PROP BETS

John Bartus

At an Arlo Guthrie concert in Key West years ago, Arlo made a comment onstage about the Super Bowl; Philadelphia and New England played that year. Needless to say, this provoked a litany of audience responses from “Go Eagles!” to “Go Patriots!” to “Go (insert your favorite team name here)!” Not being a fan of the then too-often recurring AFC Champion, I offered up, “Anyone but the Patriots!” 

My outburst got a tiny amount of applause … and then a stern look from Arlo Guthrie himself, who replied, “Son, you do know you have a stage full of Massachusetts people here?”

Properly chastised, I went back into the role of happy concert-goer and music fan. Seeing as this Sunday is Super Sunday LVII (maybe we should just use regular numbers after this), however, I’ve compiled a list of prop bets. These are things a person can actually place a bet on (but only in properly licensed gaming establishments and sports books, as our attorneys have advised us to say).

Here is the first, complete with odds: How long will it take for Chris Stapleton to sing the national anthem? Depending upon the betting service, the over/under for country star Stapleton to sing the anthem at Super Bowl 57 is set anywhere from 119.5 to 125 seconds. Yes, you can place a bet on that.

In a related bet, you can actually wager on whether any scoring drive will take less time than it takes to sing the national anthem.

The coin toss is a popular prop bet, but heads or tails is a 50-50 chance, and there are no odds or any particular research that will improve your chances.

If you’ve been following the coverage, you’ll know that this is the first Super Bowl where brothers will face off on opposing teams. You can place a (stupid) bet on whether both Kelce brothers will score (odds at +15,000). Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is very likely to score. Eagles center Jason Kelce is not, unless he recovers a fumble in the end zone. It’s a good bet only if you want to say goodbye to your hard-earned cash.

Which commercial will play first? This year, the contest is between Doritos and M&Ms. With the stupid “woke” controversy and new spokesperson Maya Rudolph, M&Ms might have an incentive to be first out of the gate. Doritos, however, remain the favorite.

An interesting bet is whether a player will score an octopus. An octopus is where the player that scored a touchdown then scores the follow-up two-point conversion. Let’s look at the unlikely odds. 1) Two-point conversions are attempted after less than 10% of touchdowns. 2) They’re successful about 50% of the time. 3) It’s extremely unlikely that the quarterback will go to the same player who just scored the TD. Still, if you take the Yes bet, $100 will win you $650.

The halftime show offers a few prop bets as well. Rihanna is taking the stage for the first time in five years, and you can wager on a few things — what song she’ll sing first, will anyone famous accompany her as a surprise guest, and how many songs she will fit in. The over/under for that is 9.5 songs. You can also bet on what color her (first) outfit will be — black is the favorite at +125.

You can place a bet on the color of the Gatorade bath the winning coach will endure. Orange used to be the favorite, but blue was the color in the past two Super Bowls. Here are the latest odds: orange +350; yellow-green and blue +400; red-pink +450; clear/water +500; purple +750; and no Gatorade bath +1,000.

Let’s not forget the eventual Super Bowl MVP. That fortunate individual will get to make a speech. There are odds on who the MVP will thank first. Really. Teammates are the favorite at -135; God comes in second at +150; home city odds are +900; family is +1,200; coach is +1,500; owner is +3,000. And there is a bet you can place where the MVP mentions none of these. 

Now that you have this list of possible ways to part with your hard-earned cash, you are surely ready for anything in Super Bowl LII. Except maybe the commercials…

Very few towns or cities could ever claim that their Mayor was a smokin' hot guitar player. The island city of Marathon in the Florida Keys is one of those towns. While politics is a temporary call to service, music is a life sentence. John Bartus, a more-than-four-decade full-time professional musician, singer, and songwriter, continues to raise the bar with his groundbreaking solo acoustic show. It’s easy to catch John on one of his more than 200 shows a year throughout the Keys on his Perpetual Island Tour. His CD releases include After The Storm, Keys Disease 10th Anniversary Remaster, and Live From the Florida Keys Vol. 2. John’s music is available wherever you download or stream your music.