Will Matthew Stafford be named MVP? Will “Lose Yourself” lead the halftime show? Find out what oddsmakers expect to happen on Sunday.
By now, you’ve undoubtedly been inundated with news and notes around the Super Bowl. There’s talk about the actual game, the theatrics that come along with it, and all of the brands trying to capitalize on the attention paid to The Big Game.
As should be expected with an event of this magnitude, everyone in the world has an opinion — from which team will win, to which player will perform the best, to how good the halftime show will be.
Those who are especially sure of themselves can even bet on their hot takes.
Oddsmakers have come out with odds on just about everything for the Super Bowl, and you may be wondering what the house is expecting out of this game. Let’s run through that.
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The Game
Before we hit the prop bets, let’s talk about the spread. The Los Angeles Rams are the expected Super Bowl champions, opening up with -175 odds to take the game. That implies a 63.6% chance they will win, and the money has come pouring in on L.A., pushing them to a -198 favorite — or a 66.4% chance they will win — on FanDuel Sportsbook.
As for the final score of the game, that’s expected to be relatively low, with a current over/under of 48.5 points. It’s not abnormally low based on the numbers we’ve seen hung all season long, but it’s certainly not expected to be a shootout.
The Performers
As expected with two accomplished quarterbacks during the playoffs, Joe Burrow‘s passing total is currently set at 278.5 yards, while Matthew Stafford‘s is at 283.5. The most eye-catching number in the player prop market, however, belongs to Cooper Kupp.
There’s no hiding that Kupp is a superstar, and there’s also little value left in putting your money on a big performance. He’s expected to reach 100 yards in this game, garnering an insane over/under of 105.5 receiving yards on FanDuel.
Kupp is also a heavy -165 favorite to score a touchdown in this game, implying there is a 62.3% chance he will find the end zone.
As for the rushing attack, there seems to be no mistaking that Cam Akers will carry the load for Los Angeles, despite the presence of Sony Michel. Oddsmakers have set his rushing total at 64.5 yards and given him -105 odds to find the end zone, making him the second-likeliest scorer after Kupp.
As for some other stars, Odell Beckham Jr.‘s receiving total is set at 63.5 yards while Ja’Marr Chase sits at 78.5 to lead the Bengals.
First Score
The Rams are currently short -126 favorites to score first in this game. You can get +170 odds on the first score being a Rams touchdown, +250 on the first score being a Bengals touchdown, and +350 odds on each team kicking a field goal to get on the board first.
Unsurprisingly, Kupp is the favorite to score the first touchdown of the game at +490, followed by Akers at +650, Joe Mixon at +700, and both Chase and Beckham at +800.
Interestingly enough, the over/under on the jersey number of the first touchdown scorer is 23.5, despite the fact that four of these five players wear a jersey number that would fall under that number.
National Anthem
One of the most popular bets during the Super Bowl is on the National Anthem. While this isn’t a market which most legal sportsbooks in the United States are offering, there are still books elsewhere which will take action on novelty props and set lines.
Oddsmakers are currently setting the line on the length of Mickey Guyton’s rendition at 1:38, which is quite low considering the anthem has an average length of 1:56.
Halftime Show
Most excitingly, there are currently a number of odds out on the halftime show. BetOnline is currently setting -200 odds on a Bored Ape Yacht Club image to be shown first at the halftime show, with an image of Tupac Shakur at +175. It seems likely that we see a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT at some point, however, with the book hanging heavy -400 odds on an image to be displayed.
As for the actual music, “Lose Yourself” is currently a substantial -200 favorite to be the first song played, followed by “The Next Episode” at +150. It seems incredibly likely that it’s either one of these numbers, with “California Love” the third-likeliest all the way at +700.
If you’re wondering about the appearance of any of the performers, Eminem’s hair is heavily expected to be brown or black, and “blue” is the leader in the clubhouse for Snoop Dogg‘s shoe color.
Super Bowl MVP
Finally, there’s the business of Super Bowl MVP. Unsurprisingly, Stafford is the favorite at +135, followed by Burrow at +225. It’s rare to see the award given out to a player other than the quarterback, but if it does go out to anyone else it might be Kupp (+600) or Donald (+800), who are the only other players with better than a 10% chance to come away with it.
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