How Prop Bets Became the Craziest Part of the Super Bowl
Football season is prime time for betting on the outcomes of however many games there are per week. It could be 27 matchups at this point, what with the NFL and college games. Maybe that’s an exaggeration.
Anyway, there are so many bets flowing into sportsbooks about who wins on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, but the real insanity comes when the Super Bowl rolls around in January.
And while we love the big game, we are also partial to the prop bets. Not the player props, but the weird ones. The weirder, the better!
What are prop bets? The formal term is proposition bets, and these are the side wagers on specific occurrences or stats within a game, not just on the final score.
The Super Bowl has taken prop betting from a niche novelty into a full-blown national spectacle. It’s no longer only about who takes the trophy; it also includes how long the national anthem runs, what color Gatorade the winning coach gets showered with, or the celebs who could appear on screen.
How and why have Super Bowl prop bets become one of the most popular parts of the big game, and what are some of the craziest ones you can bet on? Come with us and we’ll tell you!
What Are Prop Bets? A Quick Primer
In common sports betting, you can bet on who wins (moneyline), by how much (point spread), or the combined score (over/under).
But prop bets are a whole different ballgame. It’s a wager on an outcome other than the final score or result, and you can bet on specific events within the game instead of the game as a whole.
Instead of betting which team wins, a prop bet could be on a quarterback’s total passing yards or if the first play will be a run or pass. Standard bets focus on the game’s outcome, and props focus on individual stats or in-game occurrences. And they can range from serious stat lines to absolutely odd goings-on.
Common Game-Related Prop Bets
Most prop bets are tied to player or team performance, and they’re known as player props or team props. You can wager on who will score the first touchdown of the Super Bowl, or if a particular running back will rush for over/under 100 yards.
Other popular game props? They include a quarterback’s passing yards, a kicker’s total field goals, or if a defensive player will record an interception. The bets all have a basis in on-field action and stats, making them fun for fans who follow the game. They’re little side bets on specific aspects of gameplay, aka mini-contests within the contest. If you know the teams and players really well, props are a really fun way to leverage that knowledge past the scoreboard.
‘Serious’ Props vs. Novelty/Fun Props
Props can be analytical, or they can be silly. On one end, you have serious, stat-based props that experienced bettors or fantasy fans love (like player yardage totals, or whether the game will go into overtime). They involve game data and are researched.
- Then there are the novelty or “exotic” props, and these are the goofy bets that have very little to do with gameplay and everything to do with entertainment. During the Super Bowl, sportsbooks roll out a list of the fun ones: everything from the length of the national anthem performance and halftime show to the shade of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach are in play.
- Serious props give smart bettors an edge if they do their homework, but novelty props? They’re pure fun, and you can’t handicap the Gatorade color with stats! Both props have their fans, but it’s the combo that makes Super Bowl prop betting so special; there’s something for the diehard game analyst and the casual party-goer who’s just there for the snacks and social aspect!
A Brief History of Super Bowl Prop Bets
We went all the way back to the 80s to find out how Super Bowl props got their start and how they gained traction! Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
The Origin Story: William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry’s 1986 Touchdown
Super Bowl XX (in January 1986) gave birth to the prop betting craze. Art Manteris, a Las Vegas sportsbook manager, had an out-of-the-box idea, and that was to offer odds that William “The Refrigerator” Perry, a 340-pound defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, would score a touchdown.
Perry was a fan-favorite gimmick player (coach Mike Ditka sometimes put the rookie in at fullback during the season), so the bet was a natural draw for fans. Initially, sportsbooks listed “The Fridge to score” at longshot odds (around 20-1 or even 75-1 at one point) because it seemed so unlikely to happen.
But as media buzz grew and fans poured in to bet on the idea, sportsbooks kept slashing the odds, and by kickoff, it was as low as 2-1 due to the heavy betting action. In the game, Perry did indeed rumble in for a touchdown, and those bettors went nuts (and Vegas took a six-figure loss on the prop).
That one crazy bet? It cost the house a lot of money, but it proved a point: people loved the offbeat bet. Bookmakers admitted that it was “the best loss we ever took,” because the publicity and popularity of that one bet showed how big the appetite was for Super Bowl props. Until then, Super Bowl betting had been just picking winners or the score; after Perry’s score, a whole new era of creative betting was born.
Prop Betting Takes Off in the 1990s and 2000s
After the Refrigerator Perry bet, Vegas sportsbooks realized they had something, and all through the late 1980s and 1990s, bookmakers started adding more and more proposition bets each Super Bowl, trying to capitalize on the excitement.
By 1989, bookmaker Jay Kornegay (then at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas) was already expanding the prop menu past the basics. He famously introduced a cross-sport prop in 1990: “Who will score more points on Super Bowl Sunday, the 49ers or NBA star Michael Jordan?” BTW, the 49ers won that comparison, 55 to 39. It was solid data that props didn’t have to be limited to just football stats.
But the biggest tipping point came with Super Bowl XXIX (1995). The San Francisco 49ers were the huge 19.5-point favorites over the Chargers, so traditional bets weren’t attracting a lot of interest, as everyone expected the 49ers to win. To spice things up, Kornegay (who was now at the Las Vegas Hilton) tripled the number of prop bets, going from a few dozen to over 100 different props for that game.
It was unprecedented at the time, and it landed. Bettors loved having a ton of options, especially for a potentially one-sided game. From that year on, prop betting’s popularity only went up. Each Super Bowl, sportsbooks tried to outdo themselves with more props than the year before. What started as a handful of side bets was now an entire prop betting menu.
By the early 2000s, the rise of the internet and online sportsbooks took Super Bowl props even further. Offshore betting sites (not bound by Nevada’s stricter rules) started to offer all kinds of crazy novelty props, and they were things that Vegas sportsbooks wouldn’t dare touch at the time.
There was stuff like celebrity cameos, halftime show antics, or the now-infamous color of the Gatorade bath. The internet also enabled live betting so fans could wager on props during the game, like “Will the next play be a pass?” The Super Bowl prop scene became an arms race of creativity, and sportsbooks were competing to offer the craziest bets to get the attention of bettors. By the 2000s, if you could imagine it happening on Super Bowl Sunday? You could probably bet on it somewhere.
Post-2018: Legalization and Mainstream Explosion
Much of America’s Super Bowl prop betting happened either in Vegas or in office pools and offshore websites. But that all changed in 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting (PASPA). One state after another legalized sports wagering, and major sportsbook apps (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, to name a few) spread across the country. This unleashed Super Bowl prop bets to a whole new audience of mainstream, casual bettors.
How big has it gotten? In 2024, an estimated 68 million Americans placed some kind of a wager on the Super Bowl, collectively betting over $20 billion on the game. And more than two-thirds of U.S. adults now live in a state with legal sportsbooks.
This legalization brought prop bets right to everyone’s smartphones, and now people in New Jersey or in Pennsylvania could legally join the Super Bowl prop fun on a licensed app, whereas before? They probably wouldn’t have bothered. The sportsbooks, for their part, heavily market the hundreds of prop bets as a “betting buffet” for the Big Game. That made prop bets mainstream, and they’re a topic on sports talk shows, debated on social media, and beloved by people who otherwise wouldn’t bet on football. Super Bowl prop betting has become an American tradition, and it’s right up there with the commercials and the halftime show.
Why Prop Bets Became So Popular
Don’t get it twisted: The Super Bowl isn’t merely a football game. No, it’s the most-watched television event of the year, and it draws in over 100 million viewers.
And a lot of the viewers are not die-hard football fans. It’s a cultural event that families, friends, and coworkers all watch together. Prop bets have done so well in this environment because they give everyone something to engage with. Even if you don’t know jack about football, you can have an opinion on “Heads or Tails” for the coin toss or if the halftime show will feature a certain song.
The Super Bowl’s huge audience meant there was a big demand for bets that were more fun than technical. Sportsbooks saw that, and now they offer a cornucopia of props that can entertain any viewer. From the stat geek to the people who are just there for the company, there’s a prop bet for everyone’s interests!
A big driver of prop bet popularity is that they’re accessible to casual and non-sports fans. A point spread or over/under could be confusing to someone who never bets, but anyone can join a $5 pool guessing the color of the Gatorade shower.
Props turn passive viewers into active participants. At Super Bowl parties or in office pools, you’ll see prop bet contests being passed around; the sheets have questions like “Will the anthem run over 2 minutes?” or “Which team will score first?” Everyone throws in a few bucks and checks off their answers. It’s all low-stakes and light-hearted, and that’s the point.
The bets are more about social entertainment than serious gambling, and most people who place Super Bowl prop bets don’t bet on sports any other time of the year. But on this day? Your aunt might bet on the coin toss, and your co-workers might bet on the odds of the MVP thanking his mom or God first. It’s inclusive and so much fun! There’s something so quintessentially American about making a game out of the national anthem and the halftime show, and we do love to turn everything into a betting opportunity.
Prop bets have also hopped on the bandwagon of social and digital media. Super Bowl prop “bingo” sheets or prediction games have become really common at parties. You can have 20 people at a gathering, all cheering (or groaning) about the outcome of a silly bet like the coin toss.
On social media, prop bets generate a ton of chatter and memes. Every year, you’ll see Twitter (X) light up with people live-timing the national anthem to see if the singer hit the “over” or “under” on the seconds. Or they’ll react in real time to the Gatorade color reveal with jokes about who bet which color. A shareable nature of props amplifies their popularity, and they’re built for virality and group participation. Unlike a straightforward bet that only the bettor cares about, a prop like “Will a fan run on the field?” gets everyone watching (and if it happens, you can bet it’ll be trending online within minutes). Prop bets add a party game element to the Super Bowl viewing experience, and it’s an interactive one for big groups and online communities.
Another reason props are so popular? The sheer variety of it all. Sportsbooks have hundreds of different prop bets for the Super Bowl, and that’s more choices than any fan could possibly exhaust.
Every viewer out there can find multiple bets that interest them, which is why it’s been dubbed a “betting buffet.” If you’re a stats nerd, you can bet on quarterback passing yards. If you’re into pop culture, there’s a bet on the halftime show outfit. If you just want a quick hit, there’s the opening coin toss. Having a big variety keeps people entertained throughout the game. And constant engagement is exactly what sportsbooks want, and it really does make the game more exciting for fans. The entertainment value of having a little stake in dozens of micro-outcomes is greater than any realistic monetary gain.
Super Bowl props are fun, plain and simple. Unlike regular sports bets that people approach analytically or seriously, prop bets are pure entertainment. And a lot of props are deliberately set as 50/50 odds or close to it (like the coin toss being -105 odds each way) so that people feel it’s a fair coin flip and will join in.
The sportsbook still has a house edge (they always do), but the appeal isn’t in finding some sort of a huge edge; it’s in having a low-risk sweat on a silly outcome. When you have a few dollars riding on if the halftime performer’s first song will be “Umbrella” (it wasn’t, FYI; Rihanna didn’t sing that one), you’re invested in the halftime show.
The Craziest Super Bowl Prop Bets of All Time
The Super Bowl has inspired some truly bizarre and legendary prop bets. Here’s a look at a few of the wildest props that have been offered (and sometimes actually hit!):
- What Color Gatorade Will Be Dumped on the Winning Coach? – A fan-favorite tradition. Bettors wager on the color of the sports drink that gets poured over the winning coach’s head. Options come with odds (e.g., purple, orange, lime green, etc.). For Super Bowl 59, purple Gatorade was a frontrunner at +225 odds after the Kansas City Chiefs had used purple in recent wins. This bet is pure silliness, yet it’s insanely popular – it adds anticipation to that celebratory moment on the sidelines. (And yes, people do research: they check team color preferences or past Gatorade baths to inform their pick!)
- Who Will the MVP Thank First in His Speech? After the game, the Super Bowl MVP typically gives a short speech. Sportsbooks have gotten creative by offering odds on the first person or entity the MVP mentions in that speech. Common options include teammates, God (or a religious figure), family, fans, or the coach/owner. Believe it or not, “God/Religion” has often been the betting favorite in recent years (many players do indeed thank God first). For example, one year the odds were around God -113; Teammates +215; Family +600, and so on. It’s a tricky bet because it depends on the player’s personality and the interview dynamics. This prop is the definition of quirky – it makes the post-game thank-you’s as exciting as the game for some bettors.
- Will There Be a Wardrobe Malfunction During the Halftime Show? Ever since Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction in 2004, this prop has become a Super Bowl staple. Bettors can put money on whether any performer’s outfit will unintentionally (or intentionally!) expose something on live TV. The odds for “Yes” are usually long (because such incidents are rare and the shows now take precautions), for example, +600 or higher for a wardrobe malfunction, versus -1000+ for “No”. It’s largely a tongue-in-cheek bet referencing the Jackson/Timberlake moment. So far, no subsequent Super Bowl halftime has had a similar malfunction, which is good for decency… but that doesn’t stop people from betting each year on the off chance of a crazy repeat.
- Length of the National Anthem (Over/Under) How long will “The Star-Spangled Banner” last? This prop bet asks just that. Sportsbooks set a time in seconds, and you can bet “over” or “under”. It became a popular wager by the early 1990s and has grown since. For instance, Jon Batiste’s national anthem in 2025 had an over/under line of 120.5 seconds (two minutes and 0.5s). People actually have stop watches in their hands as the anthem plays to see if they win. Fun fact: sometimes rehearsals leak and cause chaos with this bet; if word gets out that a singer held a big note in practice, bettors rush to take the over (and sportsbooks may even pull the bet). Despite occasional controversy, the anthem length prop remains hugely popular as a pre-game novelty.
- Will Any Player Propose to His Girlfriend on the Field After the Game? The Super Bowl is a life highlight, so would a player top it off with a surprise on-field marriage proposal? This romantic (or cheesy) prop bet pops up frequently. It’s not entirely far-fetched – in 2022, Los Angeles Rams player Taylor Rapp proposed to his girlfriend on the field after winning Super Bowl LVI. That made headlines and, of course, prop bettors who had “Yes” were delighted. Odds on a proposal are usually underdogs by nature (e.g., +400 or more) because it’s not a yearly occurrence. In the lead-up to Super Bowl 59, there was even buzz about whether Chiefs star Travis Kelce might propose to his pop-star girlfriend, Taylor Swift, if the Chiefs won. That didn’t happen, but the fact that people were betting on it shows how prop bets can intersect with pop culture storylines.
- Will a Fan Run Onto the Field? This prop bet wagers on whether the game will be interrupted by a fan or streaker trespassing on the field. Crazy as it sounds, it has happened (for example, a streaker infamously disrupted the third quarter of Super Bowl LV in 2021). The 2021 incident actually became legendary in betting circles because the streaker himself claimed he had bet on “Yes” at +750 odds and then went on to do it! (Sportsbooks voided his bets once that stunt came to light – nice try, though.) Generally, “Will a fan run on?” is a long-shot prop with a nice payout if it hits, since security is usually tight. But as we saw, sometimes someone is bold (or foolish) enough to try – making this prop a perennial cheeky bet.
- Other Bizarre Props: There are almost too many to list, but honorable mentions among crazy Super Bowl bets include “How many times will [a certain celebrity] be shown on the TV broadcast?” (In 2023, books took bets on Taylor Swift’s camera count when she was dating a player), cross-sport mashups (like comparing an NBA player’s points that day to total field goals in the Super Bowl), commercial-related props (such as “Which company’s ad will air first?” or number of dog commercials), and halftime show predictions (first song performed, special guest appearances, etc.). One year, you could even bet on whether the broadcast would mention the term “wardrobe malfunction” as a meta-reference! In short, if it’s remotely connected to the game, the broadcast, or the surrounding entertainment, odds are some sportsbook has turned it into a prop bet. The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl of prop betting itself – it’s the one day you’ll find the most off-the-wall wagers in the world.
How Sportsbooks Set Super Bowl Prop Lines
For bookmakers, Super Bowl props are a balancing act. On one hand, they want to offer a fun, sprawling menu of crazy bets to attract casual wagering (props generate huge buzz and handle). On the other hand, some of these bets can be risky or prone to insider information, so the books have to protect themselves. Generally, sportsbooks keep bet limits on novelty props relatively low – you might only be able to bet a certain amount (say $50 or $100 max) on things like the anthem or coin toss. This ensures the book can’t get hammered too badly on a single prop. They also use historical data and research when setting the initial lines.
For example, when the singer for the national anthem is announced, bookmakers will immediately study that singer’s past performances to gauge how long they usually hold the notes. They’ll factor in tempo, style, and even try to find out if there are planned guitar solos or choir sections. All of that goes into setting a time like “Over/Under 2 minutes, 5 seconds” for the anthem. Similarly, for Gatorade color, oddsmakers might actually look at recent team celebrations or even team colors (some teams favor certain flavors) before hanging odds.
The goal is to post a number or odds that will attract bets on both sides. For instance, if they set the anthem Over/Under at 2:00, and most people start betting “over”, they might nudge the line higher or adjust the payout odds to encourage some “under” money. They’re always trying to balance the action to limit their risk.
Sharp Info vs. Public Betting
One challenge with Super Bowl props is the sharp vs. square dynamic. Casual fans will bet props for fun and usually in small amounts (the “public” money). But sharp bettors and opportunists look for soft lines or even the chance to exploit inside info. A famous example: in 2019, a rehearsal recording of Gladys Knight singing the anthem leaked, showing she went long. As soon as that rumor hit betting circles, smart bettors hammered the Over on anthem length at offshore books. Sportsbooks saw a wave of max bets coming in on one side and realized something was up . In response, they quickly adjusted – some books moved the Over/Under time up by 8 seconds or more before taking it off the board . Others kept the line but made the Over heavily juiced (requiring bettors to risk more). This cat-and-mouse game is common with novelty props. If a book hears that, say, the anthem singer’s dress rehearsal was timed, they know bettors might have that info too. They’ll either close the betting or move the odds dramatically to account for it.
Another example: the coin toss is pure 50/50 randomness, but sportsbooks typically set it at -105 or -110 odds each way (built-in house edge). However, they sometimes run promos (like even money +100) to draw people in. They know the public loves the coin toss bet – it’s literally the first result of the game, and bragging rights are on the line for heads vs tails. The book isn’t worried about insider info there (nobody can rig a coin toss), but they do mind the volume – millions can be wagered on that one flip. So they manage risk by limiting how much each person can bet on it (you likely can’t drop a $1 million bet on “Heads” at standard odds; the book would cap it).
Ultimately, setting prop lines involves a mix of research, market feel, and risk management. Oddsmakers comb through data (or pop culture news) to set an initial line, then they watch how bettors react. They’ll adjust lines and odds based on betting patterns. If too much money piles on one side, they’ll tweak things to entice bets on the other side or just accept they might have liability. And for truly out-there props (like “Will it snow during the game?” or “Will a player retire immediately after the game?”), Sportsbooks are super cautious; they only offer those if they’re confident the outcomes are random enough and not in any way exploitable.
The Psychology of Super Bowl Props
Why do millions of people, including those who never bet on sports otherwise, get in on Super Bowl props? It comes down to psychology and fun. Prop bets are typically low-stakes (you can wager a few bucks) but offer a high level of entertainment. It’s the thrill of having skin in the game on a very specific outcome, without the stress of, say, betting your mortgage on the game’s winner. Many casual bettors treat prop money as the cost of enjoyment – like buying a movie ticket. If it pays back, great, but if not, the ride was worth it. Every prop essentially gamifies a piece of the event.
The anthem isn’t usually something that would make your heart pound – but put $10 on it hitting the Over and suddenly you’re living and dying by every melismatic note the singer holds. This emotional amplification is a big draw. Even rational folks know these bets are largely chance, yet they relish the added excitement.
Psychologically, prop bets also allow people to follow their hunches or personal attachments.
- Is your favorite singer doing halftime?
- Bet on what they’ll sing first.
- Love a particular player? Bet on them to score a TD.
- Think the underdog has a trick play up their sleeve? Bet on a two-point conversion happening.
These are ways to engage with the game that aren’t possible through conventional bets. Props personalize the betting experience. Each person’s prop card might reflect their own predictions or hopes (e.g., a fan of defense might bet on a defensive TD prop). This personal connection makes the game feel more rewarding to watch because you’re looking for “your” scenario to unfold.
The Party Atmosphere & Group Dynamics
Super Bowl Sunday is as much a social holiday as a sports event. The presence of prop bets plays perfectly into that party atmosphere. In group settings, props lead to a lot of banter, competition, and laughter. Consider a Super Bowl watch party where everyone has filled out a prop sheet: there will be friendly trash talk (“I told you it’d be heads!”), groans in unison (if the anthem singer cut a verse short and hit the under, those who bet over all sigh together), and random high-fives when that one wild bet hits (“We actually got a safety as the first score! Can you believe it?!”). This social reinforcement – sharing the wins and losses – amplifies the enjoyment and makes people more likely to participate again next year. It turns passive viewers into a little community of co-gamblers for the day.
There’s also a psychology of humor and novelty at play. Some props are outright funny – like bets on whether the broadcast will mention “Tom Brady’s retirement” or if the halftime singer will have a wardrobe change count of over 2. People enjoy betting on these because it makes them laugh; it’s almost satirical. It’s fun to be part of a joke (“I actually put $5 on ‘left shark’ making an appearance during the halftime show!”). The absurdity is the point. In a way, betting on these things gives permission for adults to play and be silly in a socially acceptable way. The Super Bowl is one of the few times grown men and women might yell, “Come on, blue Gatorade!” at the TV – and nobody thinks it’s odd, because half the party is doing the same thing.
From a behavioral standpoint, prop bets provide instant or frequent gratification during a lengthy event. A full football game bet is one big outcome after 3+ hours. But props hit all game long: coin toss decided pre-kickoff, first touchdown maybe in first quarter, etc. Frequent small payoffs (or near-misses) keep the dopamine flowing. Even losing a prop can be fun if it was a long shot you almost nailed (“Ah, the anthem went 1:53 and I had under 1:52, so close!”). This pattern of intermittent reinforcement is known to be quite engaging (it’s why slot machines are addictive – lots of small wins and losses). Props replicate that on a micro-scale in a socially positive setting. In other words, the psychology of prop betting is less about profit and more about pleasure. It enhances mood, engagement, and social connection during the game.
Everyone Feels Like a Winner (Sometimes)
Another psychological aspect: with so many prop bets, chances are you’ll win at least something, especially if you spread a bunch of small bets around. That gives people a little jolt of victory even if their team loses or they whiff on the big bets. You might lose your bet on the game’s point spread, but maybe you won the coin toss bet and the first field goal prop. Those small wins feel good and can even create a sense of accomplishment or expertise (“I guessed the Gatorade color right – I knew it!”). It’s human nature to enjoy being right about a prediction, no matter how trivial. Super Bowl props offer dozens of opportunities to be proven right (or wrong) in front of your peers.
There’s also an inclusive appeal: because prop bets cover both football and non-football elements, they draw in people with different interests. Someone with zero football knowledge might still accurately predict the length of the anthem if they’re a music person and know the singer’s style. That person gets to “win” in a sports context, which can be very satisfying. Props level the playing field in a sense – you don’t have to be an NFL expert to beat your friends in a prop pool. In fact, sometimes overthinking can hurt (the person picking prop winners by jersey color might do just as well as the person meticulously researching!). This randomness and inclusiveness are key to the broad appeal.
Super Bowl Props by the Numbers
The Super Bowl has turned prop betting into a massive side industry. Sportsbooks don’t just post a handful of extras anymore, no, no, no! They build whole menus around it!
- How many bets? DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM routinely list 400+ props, covering everything from first downs to halftime surprises.
- Money in play: At the most popular sportsbooks, half or more of the total handle often comes from props, and that adds up to tens of millions nationally.
- Top draws: The coin toss still rules the prop roost, followed closely by first touchdown scorer, anytime touchdown, MVP, anthem timing, and the Gatorade color.
Can You Make Money on Prop Bets?
Props are undoubtedly fun, but can they be more than a one-off at a party? Sometimes, but don’t get your hopes too high.
- Where bettors strike: Experienced players will occasionally locate stat-based props where the number doesn’t line up with team tendencies.
- Info edges: Situations like anthem rehearsal timings have impacted odds in the past, but sportsbooks now move really quickly to protect themselves and their profit.
- Bottom line: Prop betting is best seen as entertainment, with payouts being a nice bonus and not a life-changing windfall.
- Extra help: Use our Super Bowl Prop Bet Tracker Tool to organize your bets and follow results during the game.
The Best Places to Bet Super Bowl Props
Super Bowl Sunday is when the sportsbooks put their creativity on full display. Some of them pile on hundreds of lines, and others concentrate on the specialty markets that tie into the broadcast. Here are the five best places to get your Super Bowl props on!
DraftKings: Consistently posts one of the wackiest menus, covering everything from quarterback totals to halftime entertainment props.
FanDuel: The sportsbook built its rep on the Same-Game Parlay builder, which makes it really easy to stack multiple props into a single ticket.
Caesars: Known for competitive pricing on player and team markets, plus it has steady coverage of the traditional bets.
ESPN BET: Still a newer platform, but it is already experimenting with broadcast-driven specials and unique markets tied to storylines.
BetMGM: Balances its menu with boosted odds and creative player-focused props that highlight big-name players.
Want to read full reviews and comparisons of mainstream sportsbooks? You can check out our guide to the Best Football Betting Sites!
Why We Love the Madness of Super Bowl Props
Super Bowl props are ridiculously fun, and that’s why we love them! They turn a football game into a betting buffet: one dude swears the Gatorade will be orange, someone else brought a legit stopwatch to time the anthem, and another person is banking on a backup tight end to score first. Half the time, the bets are over before the kickoff, and the other half, you’re clenching your jaw over a coin toss.
The point of props isn’t to make a hefty profit; it’s to make the night pop unpredictably and be way more fun than a boring straight bet on the spread. Prop betting adds extra stakes and some much-needed personality. It gives everyone in the room something dumb to root for, which is why it’s now on par with Super Bowl traditions like the commercials that make you cry.
Look below for a quick recap of Super Bowl prop bets:
- They got their start as a one-off idea with William Perry’s touchdown, and now account for a massive share of Super Bowl action.
- Sportsbooks post hundreds of props, and fans bet on everything from player stats to the length of the national anthem.
- Their popularity stems from giving everyone a reason to stay engaged.
- They make the whole broadcast feel like it matters, from the opening coin toss to the Gatorade shower.
- Props should be treated as entertainment: have fun with them, but never risk more than you’re okay with losing!
