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The Super Bowl is the most watched event every year on TV and that means plenty of people who don’t give a damn about football are tuning in, or joining friends for a Big Game gathering. The NFL knows this and so do the sportsbooks and that’s why the pregame and half-time entertainment is important and so are the associated prop bets.
People won and lost money last year depending on what color hair Lady Gaga sported during the halftime show and by how many times the TV cameras turned to Gisele Bundchen during the game broadcast.
The prop wagers this year range from what will New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick be wearing on the sidelines (my money’s on the cut-off hoodie) to how many times will Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth say “Gronk” during the game.
Here’s a look at the craziest and most fun prop bets on the board at BetDSI and our feeble attempt at handicapping them.
Halftime
Justin Timberlake returns to the Super Bowl halftime show for the first time since the infamous wardrobe malfunction involving Janet Jackson in 2004. JT is out to prove he’s no boob (sorry) by giving a performance your pastor will love as much as your teenage niece.
Bettors can take a stab as to what song will open Timberlake’s show:
Can’t Stop The Feeling! +150
Sexyback +175
Rock Your Body +400
Cry Me A River +500
Mirrors +550
Filthy +750
True Colors +800
Love Never Felt So Good +900
What Goes Around…Comes Around +1000
Senorita +1250
Suit & Tie +1500
Field - Any Other Song +200
He performed Can’t Stop the Feeling! At the Oscars last year and the song was his first to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 in over 10 years when it topped in 2016. The Super Bowl is about playing the hits and usually condensed versions to fit as many songs into the limited amount of time given.
Rock Your Body was the tune being performed when JT upper-body pantsed Janet Jackson, so he might want to nip (sorry) it in the bud and avoid the song altogether. SexyBack or Can’t Stop the Feeling! seem like the logical choices.
You can also bet the Yes/No on appearances made by other Timberlake performing friends like Britney Spears (Yes +300, No -500), Janet Jackson (Yes +400, No -500), Jay-Z (Yes +300, No -500), Madonna (Yes +400, No -600) or any member of JT’s old boy band NSYNC (Yes +150, No -180).
If Britney made an appearance and there was another costume failure, would the headline on the back page of the New York Post be “Oops I Did It Again”?
Broadcast Booth
More and more play-by-play people are paying attention to pointspreads and totals, but Uncle Al has been on this corner since Sean McDonough was calling Syracuse Chiefs games. Bettors can gamble on if Al Michaels will say “underdog” (Yes -1000, No +450), “odds” (Yes -1000, No +450), “pointspread” (Yes +360, No -500) or “Vegas” (+Yes 240, No -300) while calling the contest.
Michaels has described his attention to the odds involving football games as his rascal tendency. My money is on gambling references early and often from the booth.
President Trump
Say what you will about the 45th President of the United States, but he is nothing if not interesting. One week everyone’s talking about Fake News awards the next it’s about Stormy Daniels and whether President Trump really did order a pizza with tiny pizzas as the toppings.
You can bet on whether Trump will attend the Super Bowl (Yes +360, No -500), if he’ll do a pregame interview with NBC (Yes +360, No -500) and on how many times he tweets during the game – the over/under line is set at 5.5.
Commercials
Peyton Manning retired from the NFL but he has graduated to company pitch man. He was in plenty of commercials during his playing days and he stuck the landing by giving an undercover promotion to Budweiser in his final game as a pro.
Oddsmakers have set the over/under line at 2.5 in the amount of TV commercials featuring Manning air during the telecast.
Postgame
The forced Gatorade bath for the winning head coach has become a Super Bowl staple. Sportsbooks have long posted odds on what color spills out at the end of the game. The options are:
Clear (water) +200
Green/Yellow +300
Red +500
Blue +500
Orange +750
No liquid thrown +1500
The Pats sudden-death victory in overtime last year meant no shower for Bill Belichick. Since 2000, water has been dumped seven times, orange five; yellow two, blue one and four finishes without a Gatorade bath.
Awwww Factor
Finally, multiple sportsbooks are allowing bettors to wager on the 14th annual Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet which pits Team Fluff (-115) against Team Ruff (-115). If you’re not familiar, watch and learn.
Team Ruff has won two of the last three years but Team Fluff did win last year. That’s the type of trends and handicapping expertise our readers expect from us.
