The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will square off in Super Bowl XLIX, and while much of the betting action will deal with the actual game, there also will be a variety of additional prop bets to consider. Prop bets have developed over the years, covering everything from who will win the coin toss, to the length of the national anthem, to what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach.
The coin toss is a 50-50 proposition, and the odds are set as such. Tails came up last year, snapping a five-Super Bowl streak of heads. However, over the course of 48 Super Bowls, it has split right down the middle, with 24 times for each result.
You also can bet on the team to win the coin toss, whether the coin-toss winner will win the game and whether the team that chooses heads or tails will be correct. The first wager is available at -105 for each result, while the second and third are set at -115 for each result. The NFC has won 15 of the last 17 flips, and the team that has won the coin toss has gone on to win four of the last five Super Bowls. However, teams winning the toss have won exactly half of the 48 Super Bowls.
Idina Menzel will sing the national anthem this year, and the total time has been set at 2 minutes and 1 second. The OVER is listed at -130, while the UNDER is listed at -110. The average anthem time of the last nine Super Bowls is 1 minute and 56 seconds. The longest in that stretch was Alicia Keys at 2 minutes and 35 seconds, while Billy Joel came in shortest at 1:30.
You also can wager whether or not Menzel will forget or omit at least one word of the anthem. A perfect anthem is installed at -600, while a mistake is at +400. This wager became popular in the wake of Christina Aguilera missing a verse in 2011. She finished right on the total, causing much controversy.
A popular end-of-game celebration is the winning coach being doused in Gatorade or some other liquid. You can bet on the color of the liquid, with orange installed as the favorite at 3/2. Yellow is next at 5/2, followed by clear or water at 3/1. The long shot is green at 10/1. Last year, orange was the color of choice for Seattle. Three times since Super Bowl XXXV, there has been no Gatorade shower, and if nothing is dumped clearly on television, then wagers are listed as No Action.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
