The Super Bowl means it’s time for prop bets

We are just a few days away from the final game of the 2021 NFL season, as the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams will battle it out in Super Bowl LVI from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. After having 54 Super Bowls without a “home team” playing the title game in its own stadium. . .sigh. . .this is the second straight year that it’s happened.

We’ll have our game picks in a couple of days here, but the Super Bowl brings with it its own special potential for betting on things that you ordinarily wouldn’t bet on. Yes, I’m talking about prop bets. Our friends at the DraftKings Sportsbook have put together some bets that are a bit outside the norm and I thought we’d have some fun with them here.

Will any kick hit the uprights?

• Yes: +400
• No: -550

Since this one seems pretty straightforward, I’ll use this one to explain what the numbers mean again. If a bet has a minus sign in front of it, that represents the amount of money that you’d have to bet in order to make $100. If a bet has a plus sign in front of it, that represents the amount of money you’d make if you bet $100.

In this case, the oddsmakers think that there’s significantly more chance of a kick not hitting the uprights than there is of one actually hitting. That makes sense, given that Matt Gay and Evan McPherson are both pretty solid kickers.

Coin Toss Winner

• Bengals: -105
• Rams: -105

Coin Toss Result

• Bengals: -105
• Rams: -105

These are, literally, just about as close to a 50/50 bet as you can get on this one. I suppose you could always walk on the wild side and try to parlay both of them together.

Color of Gatorade Poured on Winning Coach

• Clear/Water: +250
• Orange: +300
• Green: +350
• Blue: +400
• None: +600
• Red/Pink: +1200
• Purple: +1400

Now we’re getting into the important stuff! Honestly, I thought red was sort of the standard as far as Gatorade flavors go, but the fact that it’s so far down on the list tells me that’s not the case. I do hope that, should our Minnesota Vikings ever get to this point that the Gatorade actually is purple.

Jersey Number of First Touchdown Scorer

• Under 23.5: -140
• Over 23.5: +110

This one, I suppose, depends on which team you think is going to get the first touchdown. Most of the Rams’ primary playmakers have lower numbers (Cooper Kupp is #10, Odell Beckham Jr. is #3, Van Jefferson is #12, and Cam Akers is #23), while two of the Bengals’ top three receivers and their primary running back have numbers that would fall into the “over” category (Joe Mixon with #28, Tyler Boyd with #83, and Tee Higgins with #85). The Bengals’ top threat, Ja’Marr Chase, wears #1, and that’s likely enough to tip the scales in favor of the “under” on this one.

Who Will the Super Bowl MVP Thank First?

• Team/Teammates: +100
• City/Fans: +275
• God/Religion: +350
• Family: +800
• Other: +1000
• Coaches: +1600
• Team Owner: +2000

You’d think that the coaching staff would be higher on this scale, but that’s not the case here.

Will There Be an Octopus?

• Yes: +1400
• No: -2500

Gotta be honest. . .I don’t know why there would be an octopus. Honestly, if I’m missing something I’d appreciate it if someone filled me in. I wonder if you couldn’t make this bet and then somehow smuggle an octopus into the stadium somehow. Then again, given the NFL bag policy, that would probably be a difficult task. . .but the amount you’d make off of the wager would surely outweigh any potential fine, wouldn’t it?

I’m not actually encouraging you to try to bring an octopus to SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Just thinking out loud.

Those are some of the different prop bets that you can wager on for this Sunday’s game if you have the desire to do so. We’ll have more on this Sunday’s contest as the time gets closer.