Betting on the Super Bowl is unlike any other sporting event. Simply put, there are more ways to bet on the Big Game than any other football game yearly.
In fact, bettors wager on the Super Bowl differently than every other season football game. Depending on where you wager, there are more than 2,000 ways to bet on a football game.
This year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will be no different.
Lists of prop bets offered by Nevada sportsbooks were released beginning on Thursday. Some sportsbooks will handle considerably more money on props than traditional point spread, moneyline or over/under totals.
Nevada Super Bowl Prop Bets Today
Depending on the sportsbook operator, Super Bowl prop bets account for as much as 70% of the overall handle on the Big Game in Nevada.
The Super Bowl truly is a large betting event. Last year Nevada sportsbooks saw a record-breaking $179.8 million wagered on the Super Bowl. They held 8.6% for a win of $15.4 million.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), sportsbooks haven’t lost money on a Super Bowl since 2008.
Nevada sportsbooks can thank the continually growing popularity of prop bets and inexperienced sports bettors for the Super Bowl wins over the past 35+ years.
While these numbers are impressive for Nevada sportsbooks, they could be higher. The Silver State requires all prop bets to be approved by the NGCB and they must be tied to the game.
This limits how many different prop bets can be offered. Unfortunately for Nevada sportsbooks, the prop bets related to non-game activities like a Gatorade shower are some of the most popular elsewhere in the country.
What Is A Prop Bet?
Proposition bets are more commonly known as props. This kind of wager is different than traditional point spread, moneyline, and over/under totals bets.
A prop bet could be connected with an event in a game, a player, or the game itself. The difference is that these wagers do not have a direct effect on the final score.
Like many sports betting regulations, Nevada is different than other states when it comes to prop bets. All prop bets must be part of the game.
Novelty prop bets on things like the National Anthem time, halftime performances, and even the Gatorade shower after the game are not allowed in Nevada. Some of these are available in nearby states while others are only offered at offshore sportsbooks.
Why Are Super Bowl Prop Bets So Popular?
Prop bets are wagers that look to answer a question. That’s all. And that’s why they’re so popular.
The popularity of prop bets is tied to their simplicity. One doesn’t have to be an experienced bettor to answer a question. Anyone can feel comfortable about placing a wager on a player or team to perform certain acts during a game.
Nevada sportsbooks have small betting menus for individual regular-season NFL games. Games might have as many as 50 different ways to wager on a regular season game.
That changes in the playoffs with more prop-betting options. This goes to another level for the Super Bowl where there are thousands of ways to bet on the Big Game.
It makes sense that there are more ways to bet on the Super Bowl. Thanks to a superstar halftime show and parties surrounding the event, the Super Bowl is typically the most-watched TV show of the year.
The Super Bowl draws so many more eyeballs than a regular game. This is the case on TV and in the casino.
Nevada bettors wager more money on the Super Bowl than any other individual game during the year. Betting on the Super Bowl wasn’t always this big. This was just a typical game to bet on until the late 1980s.
Origin Of Super Bowl Prop Bets
The first Super Bowl prop bet was offered in the Super Bowl following the 1985 season.
The Chicago Bears were a 10-point favorite over New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Not many points were expected as the game had a low over/under total of 37.5.
The Bears easily covered and dominated the game defeating the Patriots 46-10. Chicago went over the total themselves.
However, the game wasn’t the big betting story. Looking back, the big gambling news from this game was the first Super Bowl prop bet.
The first prop bet was a question of whether or not Bears defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry would score a touchdown during the game. Odds on this wager started at 20-1. There were so many bets placed on the “Yes” that the odds closed at 2-1.
Perry did go on the score a touchdown. Bears fans still bemoan the fact that Hall of Famer Walter Payton didn’t score.
The loss for sportsbooks on this one prop bet was just the beginning of this kind of Super Bowl wagering in Nevada.
Fun 2023 Prop Bets
Despite some of the limitations on prop bet menus, there are still plenty of fun wagers available on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Many of the prop bets are based on typical football wagers. However, each sportsbook operator likes to put a twist on their offerings.
Every Nevada sports betting app has a slew of Super Bowl prop bets available. Here are a few fun prop bets available from different sportsbooks.
Westgate SuperBook
The Westgate SuperBook is typically the first in Nevada to reveal all of its Super Bowl prop bets. That was the case as usual on Thursday night when the sportsbook opened prop bets to those at the sportsbook inside of the casino.
The cross-sport prop bets are particularly fun at the SuperBook. This year bettors can wager on numerous “Who will have more?” options.
One of the fun choices is between Philadelphia’s football and basketball teams: Who will have more, 76ers 1st quarter points or Eagles full game points? The 76ers are giving 3.5 points.
You can see the full Westgate SuperBook prop menu here.
Circa Sports
This year Jeffrey Benson from Circa Sports opened up creating prop bets to his Twitter followers. Circa has more than 20 approved Super Bowl game and cross-sport prop bets this year.
One of the fun prop bets at Circa is “Will Travis Kelce (Chiefs) and Jason Kelce (Eagles) be on the field together for at least one snap?”
Caesars
Caesars has more than 2,000 ways to wager on the Super Bowl this year. This year a different kind of bet is the most popular with the national casino and sportsbook operator.
Wagering on the coin flip is traditionally the most popular Super Bowl prop bet. This year Caesars is sharing that the company has already taken 58 times as many wagers on Super Bowl squares as on the coin toss. You can see the full Caesars prop list here.
