The Super Bowl represents the biggest NFL betting event of the year and one of the biggest betting events across all sports. Part of the reason for that is the number of creative betting opportunities that have grown throughout the year. One of the more established “novelty” props that gets talked about is the length of the national anthem.
Let’s examine the current over/under line for the Super Bowl national anthem, and see if we can determine why it might make sense to wager either the over or under.
Update: Reba McIntyre was unofficially timed at 95 seconds for the anthem. Over 90.5 cashes.
However, BetMGM’s John Ewing tweeted that the second brave will not be counted, which means the under 90.5 would have cashed. Each sportsbook or bookmaker will judge this independently as there is no official time recorded for the anthem.
Super Bowl 58 National Anthem Prop Bet Line and Odds
The national anthem at Super Bowl 58 will be sung by country music legend Reba McEntire. The current line for the Super Bowl 58 national anthem is 90.5 seconds (one minute, 30.5 seconds), with the under sitting at around -130 and the over at +102.
Those odds would suggest that the sportsbooks and bettors believe we could see a short national anthem this year.
Before we go any further, it should be noted that betting on the length of the national anthem is not directly available at any legal US Sportsbooks. Any bet offered must be tied to something that can be found in official statistics through the box score.
They can get creative, such as DraftKings previously offering a prop on whether the shortest scoring drive would be longer or shorter than the national anthem.
To find props on the Super Bowl national anthem, bettors will either need to look at their local options or offshore/overseas sportsbooks. Additionally, care should be taken because there usually isn’t an “official” national anthem length recorded, so each sportsbook will often independently time the anthem and payout based on their recorded timing.
McEntire is not new to singing the national anthem at sporting events, although it has been a while since her last appearance at a major one. In her previous renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” McEntire has gone no longer than 90 seconds. The longest on record is exactly 90 seconds when she performed it at the Dallas Cowboys’ 1999 Thanksgiving Day game.
There are other examples of McEntire singing the national anthem at sporting events, including a charity softball game and the 1997 World Series. Both of those went significantly under the 90-second mark.
However, on all those occasions, McEntire sang The Star-Spangled Banner a capella. Normally at the Super Bowl, we see the national anthem sung with a musical backing. That can extend the time of the performance, especially if the singer pauses to allow the musicians to take center stage for a handful of seconds during the performance.
It should be noted that the anthem length is considered to be from the first to last word sung and does not include any musical accompaniment before the singer begins.
Looking back historically, we haven’t seen a Super Bowl national anthem as short or shorter than 90 seconds since Billy Joel in 2007. Since 2013, eight of the 11 renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner have gone over 120 seconds.
For McEntire, that doesn’t mean too much, but we could see the Queen of Country Music draw out the anthem a little on the national stage.
MORE: Best Bets for Super Bowl 58
The shortest renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner in recent years came from Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, who both still went over 90 seconds.
We should expect McEntire to add some flair to her performance for the Super Bowl, which — combined with the potential for a musical interlude — makes the over (at plus odds) extremely tempting.
What Other National Anthem Props Could You Bet On?
While the length of the national anthem is the most discussed prop, various bookmakers offer other props for people to bet on when it comes to The Star-Spangled Banner. These include props for McEntire’s clothing, which players or celebrities will be shown first, and whether she’ll miss a word.
Again, these props are not available at legal US sportsbooks, so bettors will have to get creative or play along at home for some family fun. Some of the national anthem-based props available include:
- Will McEntire be wearing a cowboy hat or chaps?
- The primary color of McEntire’s boots
- Will her outfit have sequins or tassels?
- The primary color of her hat
- Various who will be shown first options:
- Taylor Swift or Jason Kelce
- Travis Kelce or Christian McCaffrey
- Patrick Mahomes or Brock Purdy
- Andy Reid or Kyle Shanahan
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