“I Bet You Think About Me” has a whole new meaning ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, as sportsbooks are trying to bank on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship with a series of eye-popping prop bets.
For Swifties new to Super Bowl prop bets, there are the usual Super Bowl party prop bets (there’s always one friend in the group who prints out those sheets), bets that include whether Reba McEntire’s rendition of the national anthem will go over or under 89.5 seconds. For what it’s worth, CBS Sports noted that McEntire has never approached 90 seconds in any of her past public performances of the national anthem (hint, hint).
Another couple of fun bets during the national anthem — what color hat Reba will wear, and which quarterback (Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes or San Francisco 49ers star Brock Purdy) will be shown first during the national anthem. There’s also the ceremonial coin toss — heads or tails. We did the math, and bettors have a 50-50 chance at making the right call.
While all of these are your usual Super Bowl party prop bets just about anyone can participate in come Feb. 11, the “Anti-Hero” singer’s relationship with an NFL star who also happens to be playing for his third Lombardi Trophy adds another intriguing element to the betting mix.
For example, Canada’s Sportsbook FanDuel is taking bets on whether Kelce will propose to Swift at the Super Bowl. According to the Daily Mail, odds opened at +190 for Kelce to get down on one knee. But the odds-on favorite is that it won’t happen, with odds opening at -250.
Some other interesting bets? Will the Super Bowl MVP mention Swift in his acceptance speech? Will Swift appear in Usher’s halftime show? And will Swift make it from Tokyo in time for the game? That’s been a hot topic since the Chiefs ousted the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game last week.
But for newbies to the NFL getting angsty and champing at the bit to race to place their bets, here’s the bad news: According to sports business outlet Front Office Sports, the Swift-oriented prop bets are not available at many U.S. sportsbooks. Why? FOS reports that individual states that have legalized online sports betting require bets be tied in some way to an official on-field statistic or game outcome, such as how many yards will Mahomes throw for or how many touchdowns will Kelce score, etc. And it should be noted that the Kelce-Swift proposal bet originally came from sportsbooks in Canada.
But with 10 days remaining until Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, FOS is also reporting that many U.S.-based sportsbooks are trying to figure out a way to incorporate Swift in some way, shape or form because a whole bunch of new eyeballs will be glued come Feb. 11 on CBS.
“We’re talking about what props we can make that are Taylor Swift-related,” said Sunny Gupta, the manager at Tipico sportsbook, via FOS. “We are trying to play into the Taylor Swift effect, because we expect more viewers than ever for this game with the Swifties tuned in, and hopefully that results in more handle.”
