The Super Bowl takes betting to a whole new level at sportsbooks. One bookmaker reportedly offered over 2,000 betting options for Super Bowl LVII last year, and you can expect similar offerings, if not more, for Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
The total number of bets on a Super Bowl menu will vary by sportsbook, and it depends on how you define a betting option compared to a betting market.
For example, a bet on Anytime Touchdown Scorer is technically 1 betting market, but it can easily have 30 betting options listed when you consider both teams will have running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, their backups, their defense/special teams, and a bet for “No touchdown scored” all listed.
That is why the betting options should be over 1,000 at any top-rated sportsbook, but the number of available markets is likely in the hundreds.
Still, that is a significant number of things to bet on, making the Super Bowl unlike any other event for bettors. We go through some of the betting markets you can expect to find for the big game.
The Super Bowl Specific Bets
No TV event gets more ratings on an annual basis than the Super Bowl, making the whole broadcast a real spectacle that expands beyond the 60-minute game itself. That is why the Super Bowl offers many betting markets that you simply won’t see for any other NFL game.
Here are some of the celebrity, live performer, and commercial bets available on Super Bowl LVIII:
- The over/under for how long it takes the singers to perform America the Beautiful, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and the National Anthem
- Which player is shown first during the National Anthem
- Various wardrobe choices for National Anthem singer Reba McEntire, including her color of boots, hat, if she’ll show cleavage, and if she’ll forget a word to the song
- Which team’s apparel will rapper and sports bettor Drake wear on Super Bowl Sunday? (Chiefs are favored at -170)
- A series of bets on which commercial will appear first during the broadcast, pitting various companies against one another
- Over/under 8.5 songs in Usher’s halftime set, including a market for what the first song he’ll sing and what the first word he’ll say in the performance
- If Usher will expose a nipple on stage
- If Usher will perform a cover of someone’s song, including a special market if he’ll sing a Taylor Swift song
Speaking of Swift, an offshore sportsbook such as BetOnline (find out more with our BetOnline Review) has a whole section devoted to her for the Super Bowl with 89 props available, including many that are tied into boyfriend Travis Kelce:
- Will Kelce have more catches (over 6.5) than Swift has Grammy nominations (6)?
- Will CBS show any of Swift’s travel from Japan to the big game?
- Will Donald Trump mention Swift on Truth Social on February 11?
- The color of her top and the color of her top coming off the plane (2 markets!)
- If Travis and Taylor will be shown kissing at the stadium
- Her lipstick color (red is an overwhelming favorite at -1500)
- If either team will use “SWIFT” during one of their play calls in the game
- If she’ll be shown for over/under 40.5 seconds of live shots during the broadcast
- Which Swift song CBS commentator Tony Romo will reference first
- Will Kelce propose to her after the game?
It just goes on and on. With the hype and interest surrounding Swift and her legion of fans, betting on the over/under for 116.5 million viewers of the Super Bowl could also be an enticing choice as the ratings record figures to fall with this one as NFL playoff ratings are at their highest since 1988. You know, the decade when 106 million people tuned into the M*A*S*H finale.
Some Other Fun Markets
But there is a football game to be played as well, and that begins after the ceremonial coin toss that some people also love to bet on that they normally never would. You can also bet on Super Bowl Squares, a popular office pool game brought to life on the sportsbooks.
After the game is over, you can see if your bet wins on the color of Gatorade that will be dumped on the winning coach, and which type of player (offense, defense, or a combo of both) will dump it on him.
My favorite #SuperBowl prop bet – @Gatorade Shower/Bath
— Mark Gallo (@guhlo) February 1, 2024
Current odds & winning color history pic.twitter.com/vYfRJSsT2m
The Super Bowl is also the only NFL game that hands out an MVP award. Well, the Pro Bowl does too, but no one cares about that. The Super Bowl MVP market is another very popular betting option for the big game even if quarterbacks on the winning team win it almost 60% of the time.
You can also bet on who the Super Bowl MVP will thank first in their speech with their teammates and God about neck and neck at the top of the odds.
Not Even the Aliens Are Safe
Finally, if there ever was a Super Bowl that should be invaded by aliens from another planet, this would be the one. It is in Las Vegas with Area 51 nearby, the aliens might think we stole Patrick Mahomes from them, and they might be wondering what Earth’s obsession with all things Taylor Swift is all about.
Yes, you can bet on Las Vegas being invaded by aliens and the game ending in a tie (+100000 at Bovada (find out more with our Bovada Review)). If that hits, that might test the motto of “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” because good luck cashing that ticket when our new alien overlords are here to take over.
You laugh now, but the last time these teams met in the Super Bowl 4 years ago, a pandemic took over the world. Aliens are just the next evolutionary step.
Enhanced Game Props
The Super Bowl features many prop picks that are available during the regular season and playoffs as well, including these familiar markets:
- Player props for passing, rushing, receiving, kicking, defense (tackles/sacks/interceptions)
- Touchdown scorers
- Spread
- Total (game and team totals)
- Moneyline
- Margin of victory
- Correct score
- Quarters and halves markets
- Total touchdowns scored
- Field goals scored
- Team to score first
- 1st drive results
- Highest scoring quarter/half
- Overtime?
None of this is new to an NFL betting menu, but the Super Bowl likes to take things much further. You can find these bets that you normally wouldn’t get in a regular NFL game or even last week in the Conference Championship round:
- Which quarterback throws a touchdown first?
- Which quarterback reaches 200 passing yards first?
- Which quarterback has a higher completion percentage or a higher passer rating in the game?
- Will the quarterback throw their first touchdown before their first interception?
- Will a quarterback catch their own pass (+7500 odds)?
- Touchdown pass props by quarter
- Race to different receiving yard milestones (20 yards, 40 yards)
- Number of players to throw a pass in the game (over/under 2.5)
- Will either team attempt a flea-flicker pass?
Also, even an established market like field goal kicking will have more advanced bets such as the ability to choose how the first missed field goal will be missed (wide left, wide right, hit the crossbar or upright, etc.).
Penalties also get special markets you normally won’t see available for NFL games, and that can always be fun to bet on in the biggest game of the year with so much focus on the officials. Here are some of the unique penalty props:
- Over/under 10.5 accepted penalties in the game
- Over/under 79.5 total penalty yards between the teams
- Which team will commit the first accepted penalty?
- Will there be a play with offsetting penalties?
- Over/under 15.5 yards for longest penalty
- What type of penalty will be the first called (false start, holding, pass interference, etc.)?
- Which team will be called for pass interference first?
- Will there be a penalty for roughing the passer?
- Will there be a penalty for a horse collar tackle?
Finally, the Super Bowl is also not the only event in sports on that Sunday. You will find cross-sport props with other sporting events taking place that day, including golf tournaments, NHL, and NBA games.
For example, you can bet on whether there will be more total goals scored in the Blues-Canadiens game than the number of seconds the word “brave” is sung during the National Anthem. You could also bet on if 49ers tight end George Kittle will score more fantasy points than there will be total goals scored in all NHL games on February 11, 2024.
Whether you are a die-hard NFL fan or one of the Swifties hoping a breakup makes this the last football game you have to watch, there is something for everyone to bet on with the Super Bowl.
The oddsmakers have made certain of that.
