2024 Super Bowl Novelty Props

There is much more to the Super Bowl than just a championship football game.

One specific Sunday falls on the NFL calendar each year, where normally forgotten and meaningless minutiae surrounding the game suddenly become points of interest.

The national anthem, the coin toss, the halftime show, the commercials, the Gatorade bath.

Everything involved in this spectacle is elevated to a higher and more surveyed version of its natural reality.

And the same goes for the bets placed on these inimitable wagering options.

If you think the winning Super Bowl team enjoys the same flavor of Gatorade as you?

Bet on it.

If you think “tails never fails” for the coin toss?

Bet on it.

The National Anthem is only about 80 words long, but if you think it’ll take longer than 90 seconds for Reba McEntire to sing all of those words?

Bet on it.

Let’s check out some Super Bowl props, with some being non-football centric props.

The National Anthem

Reba McEntire will be performing the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl 58 kickoff, and with America being “The Home of the Brave”, I’ll be brave and back the over.

Sure, McEntire is 68-years old now, but I’m not as concerned about her breathing patterns and vocals compared to any other typical 68-year old.

Dolly Parton just performed an entire halftime show back on Thanksgiving Day, and Parton is 78-years old!

Age is just a number.

But, the number in question is 90.5 seconds.

According to theLines.com, the longest available National Anthem performance on YouTube by McEntire is one minute, 23 seconds.

This is the Super Bowl! So it’s time to go big or go home, Reba.

FanDuel has over 90.5 seconds on the anthem at +102. Better than even money for a wild bet such as this? I’m all in.

Plus, the Super Bowl is in Las Vegas, where everything is a spectacle. Give us a second inflection on the final lyric and drag it out.

Pick: National Anthem – OVER 90.5 Seconds (+102) FanDuel

Coin Toss

A coin flip is a 50-50 proposition. Heads or tails?

But, in the last 57 Super Bowls, the coin flip has landed on tails 30 times, which is 52.6% of the time.

The laws of probability be damned!

In Super Bowl 54, the Chiefs and 49ers went head-to-head, just as they will in Super Bowl 58.

During the Super Bowl 54 coin toss, San Francisco called “tails” and the coin came up “tails”, winning the opening flip.

Super Bowl 58 will feature the same two teams and the same head referee flipping the coin, Bill Vinovich.

The visiting team calls “Heads or Tails” for the coin toss, and the visiting team for Super Bowl 58 will be the 49ers, just as it was in Super Bowl 54.

History repeats itself.

Tails never fails.

Pick: Coin Toss – Tails (-105) FanDuel

Opening Kick To Be Touchback Or Fair Catch

Fun Fact: In all 57 Super Bowls, the opening kick has been returned in 49 games.

While player safety measures have become a larger issue in the NFL in recent years, it would appear that teams are looking to gain a field position advantage from the jump.

The last touchback in the Super Bowl was kicked by Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker in Super Bowl 57, last February.

Butker has a big leg, as his regular season touchback rate on kickoffs was 87.1%, so he could produce a touchback again in the Big Game.

But, if the Niners kick the game off, it will be San Francisco’s rookie kicker Jake Moody delivering the opening boot.

Moody had 90 kickoffs this season, with a 60% touchback rate.

This isn’t a Week 7 matchup against a winless Carolina Panthers team or something, this is the Super Bowl, where field position reigns supreme!

Whoever gets the ball first should bring it out of the endzone.

In Super Bowl 54, the Niners won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving the Chiefs the ball, and I believe San Francisco would take a similar approach this time around.

Kansas City has a few speedy guys on their special teams kick return unit, specifically Richie James, Kadarius Toney, and Mecole Hardman.

On FanDuel, there’s a prop labeled “Opening Kick to be Touchback or Fair Catch”, with Yes being valued at -330 and No at +235.

For the value, I’m putting money on No.

Pick: Opening Kick To Be Touchback Or Fair Catch – No (+235) FanDuel

The National Anthem, the coin toss, and the opening kick return are three wagers I’m looking at before an offensive play is even run.

Hopefully, bettors can go up a few dollars before a quarterback lines up under center.

Jersey Number Of 1st Touchdown Scorer

On DraftKings, they have the line for the jersey number of the first touchdown scorer set at over 22.5 (-115), under 22.5 (-105).

The line of 22.5 on the jersey number feels like “will Christian McCaffrey score first”, seeing that the talented running back dons No. 23.

In 19 games played for the San Francisco 49ers this season, McCaffrey scored the first touchdown just four times, 21% of the time.

Here’s a look at each of the 49ers and Chiefs’ touchdown scorers this season and their corresponding jersey numbers.

SF Touchdown Scorers	Total Touchdowns	Jersey #	KC Touchdown Scorers	Total Touchdowns	Jersey #
Christian McCaffrey	21	23	Isiah Pacheco	9	10
Deebo Samuel	12	19	Rashee Rice	7	4
Brandon Aiyuk	7	11	Jerick McKinnon	5	1
George Kittle	6	85	Travis Kelce	5	87
Jordan Mason	3	24	Justin Watson	3	84
Ronnie Bell	3	10	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	2	25
Elijah Mitchell	2	25	Noah Gray	2	83
Brock Purdy	2	13	Kadarius Toney	1	19
Kyle Juszczyk	2	44	Sky Moore	1	24
Sam Darnold	1	14	Marquez Valdes-Scantling	1	11
Jauan Jennings	1	15	Blake Bell	1	80
Charvarius Ward	1	7	Mike Edwards	1	21
N/A	N/A	N/A	Brian Cook	1	6
SF Players	61 Touchdowns	AVG Jersey Number: 24.1	KC Players	39 Touchdowns	AVG Jersey Number 35

44.3% of San Francisco’s touchdowns were scored by a player with a jersey number lower than 22.5, with 55.7% of touchdowns being scored by players with a jersey number above 22.5

For Kansas City, 64.1% of their touchdowns were scored by a jersey number lower than 22.5, with just 35.9% of touchdowns scored by players with a number higher than 22.5.

If bettors can avoid a Kelce, Kittle or McCaffrey touchdown on the first score, they could be in a good spot on the under here.

That may be asking a lot, but Samuel, Aiyuk, and Pacheco are all worthy first touchdown scorers.

It’s worth placing a wager on the -105 value, too.

Pick: Jersey Number of 1st Touchdown Scorer – Under 22.5 (-105) DraftKings

Gatorade Color

The waterboy or equipment manager may have an inside idea on this bet, but I am not that privy to the hydration behind the Chiefs or 49ers.

When it comes to selecting the Gatorade color that drenches the winning head coach, it may be best to look at what has come before.

As the featured image shows, Kansas City’s Andy Reid is being splashed with orange.

Not a bad choice, a very aggressive color by nature, promoting danger.

Purple is also a popular choice, as it was the color from last year’s Super Bowl. 

Purple is often a color associated with sleep, and if I were in charge, I wouldn’t want my squad getting tired out there.

In an attempt to wake players up, a flavor such as Icy Charge, Arctic Blitz, or Glacier Freeze could all be examples for a blue bath at Super Bowl’s end.

For me, personally, I believe the 49ers will win, so I’ll base my Gatorade color wager on that outcome.

San Francisco’s uniforms are gold and red, which if mixed together properly creates a warm copper color, very orange-like.

San Francisco’s head coach Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey are both the sons of former Denver Broncos’ head coach Mike Shanahan and wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.

The Broncos are also very much associated with the color orange.

Orange it is. That’ll work for me.

Pick: Gatorade Color – Orange (+550) BetMGM

Super Bowl Prop Bets History

Many of us know that William “The Refrigerator” Perry was involved in the first Super Bowl prop bet.

Most of us don’t know the idea of creating the first-ever prop bet belongs to Art Manteris, who recently retired after +20 years at Station Casino and a Hall of Fame career.

During the 1985-’86 season, the Chicago Bears beat up opponents with such ease that Head Coach Mike Dikta used the 350-pound William Perry in goal-line situations.

During the regular season, “The Fridge” punched the ball into the endzone three times.

Manteris, who was running the Caesars sportsbook during the 1980s, saw an opportunity to attract even more bettors and public money on the big game and decided to offer The Fridge to score an anytime TD at +2000 when the Bears faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

It didn’t take long for other sportsbooks to offer the same bet.

The public loved the opportunity to throw a couple of bucks down on a novelty prop, and by the time the game kicked off, Perry’s odds were down to +200.

Although the House took a beating in year one when Perry came into the game with the Bears leading 37-7 and rumbled his way into the endzone, there was no going back.

Super Bowl prop bets were here to stay.

Super Bowl Prop Bets In The 90s

Super Bowl Blow-Outs late ‘80s and early ’90s

Year	Winning Team	Losing Team	Final Score
1986	Chicago	New England	46-10
1987	NY Giants	Denver	39-20
1988	Washington	Denver	42-10
1990	San Francisco	Denver	55-10
1992	Washington	Buffalo	37-24
1993	Dallas	Buffalo	52-17
1994	Dallas	Buffalo	30-13
1995	San Francisco	San Diego	49-26

Thanks mainly to the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, during the late 80s and into the 90s, bettors were getting just a little bit frustrated watching the Super Bowl.

Even winning bet tickets were left with little drama as the Super Bowl repeatedly ended as a Super Blow-Out.

Repeated lopsided games spawned the next evolution of Super Bowl prop betting.

If Art Manteris is credited with the first Super Bowl prop bet, Jay Kornegay is credited with really blowing up prop betting into what we know it today.

During the 1995 Super Bowl, the 49ers were -19.5 favorites against the Chargers.

Bettors had little interest in the game itself, and at that time, most sportsbooks offered between 20 to 30 prop bets.

Kornegay and his team went from offering 30 to offering over 100 prop bets, and bettors loved it immediately.

Today, there are hundreds of different prop bets every Super Bowl, and names like Manteris and Kornegay are big reasons why.

Shop Around For The Best Odds

The single smartest thing for anyone getting into sports betting can do to help their long-term ROI is to shop around for their BestOdds.

Let’s look at a simple game-related prop bet, and we will understand why.

Christian McCaffrey and Patrick Mahomes: First Touchdown Scorer

Player	DraftKings	FanDuel	bet365
Christian McCaffrey	+400	+350	+300
Patrick Mahomes	+2200	+1800	+2500

Just by looking at the odds of these two players scoring the game’s first touchdown, we can see some differences that could have a significant impact on our overall profit.

The difference between Mahomes’ +1800 and +2500 is significant.

Mahomes may not score many touchdowns, but at +2500, you might be tempted to lay a small wager on him.

For any bettor that does place a bet on Mahomes to be the first touchdown scorer, why leave money on the table.

A bettor with a $10 unit would win $180 on Mahomes as a the first touchdown scorer on FanDuel, but that same bettor could win $250 on bet365.

That $70 difference in winnings will make a large impact on any bettor’s bankroll.

Similarly, a $100 bet would win $300 on bet365 for McCaffrey to be the first touchdown scorer. If McCaffrey does score first, that same bettor could have won $100 more by placing the same bet on DraftKings.

The single greatest edge a sports bettor has against the sportsbooks is our ability to shop around and play only the odds that work best for us with each of our wagers.