Super Bowl LVII prop betting tips: Touchdowns, national anthem, Gatorade shower and more
- Harrison Discombe
- 10 February 2023
The biggest sporting event in North America takes place this Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Here, we take a closer look at the prop betting market.
Super Bowl season is a time of novelty bets, unique props and an overload of stats. From the result of the coin toss to the colour of the Gatorade shower, you'll struggle to find a moment in Sunday's matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles that doesn't have money resting on it.
Of course, every play will be just as scrutinised as the off-field drama as the last opportunity to bet on the NFL in seven months offers a bevvy of unique on-field props and markets.
Super Bowl bettors can search for value on practically any in-game event, including whether we'll see a successful coaches' challenge, what the first play from scrimmage will be and the yardage of the last field goal made.
Of particular interest to the betting public is often whether we'll see a safety or two-point conversion scored. The previous eight Super Bowls have been without a safety and we haven't seen a successful two-point try since 2017, meaning there's good value out there for punters expecting to see a trend-breaking title game.
The outcome of each team's first drive of the game is also a popular Super Bowl market. Including the postseason, the Eagles have scored a touchdown on their first offensive possession on ten of 19 attempts, a league-best rate of 52.6%.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs and coach Andy Reid have had a harder time scripting up opening drives this campaign, earning touchdowns on just five of 19 (26.3%).
Despite this, both teams have similar odds to finish their first possession with six points on Sunday, perhaps pointing to value in the Eagles market.
For those more interested in the novelty markets, the efficacy of historical trends can be brought into question but they can be paired with other clues to at least find an angle worthy of interest.
For example, since 2001, no colour of Gatorade has been poured over the winning coach more times than orange and orange also represents the Kansas City Chiefs' Championship Round opponents the Cincinnati Bengals, with whom there was plenty of back-and-forth before and after the game.
This 'evidence' has led some to seek out the 3/1 available for orange to be the colour of choice and while it's far from scientific, it will at least be interesting to track.
One market where evidence is irrefutably useless is the coin toss but as with roulette numbers, it can be fun to study the trends and see where they take you. Tails has been the result in 29 of 56 Super Bowls, meaning those loyal enough to back it every year are in profit, even with odds below evens.
However, heads is up 9-5 since Super Bowl 43 in 2009 so punters feeling lucky may choose to side with the form horse.
The over/under mark for the length of the US national anthem, set to be sung by country artist Chris Stapleton, stands at around two minutes and six seconds. The average length of the anthem from 1991-2020 was just over 01:56, with Jazmine Sullivan & Eric Church's taking 02:16 in Super Bowl 55, the fourth-longest rendition ever.
Last year saw Mickey Guyton dip back below the two-minute mark and with just six of the past 17 going over 126 seconds, the under looks the clear play here.
However, Stapleton's songs often have a slow, mellow feel to them and he has been known to extend his own songs when playing in front of a live audience, though he is unlikely to hold notes to the same extent of pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys, two of the three latest artists to go over 02:06.
While the under may be the best play for the national anthem, many punters are leaning towards there being plenty of points scored on the field on Sunday.
For those wanting to look past the simple points total but still take advantage of two explosive offenses, markets like total touchdowns (5.5) and each team's points ranges will be of particular interest.
