In the lead-up to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 11, there will be myriad things you can bet on, from straight moneyline bets and point spreads to player props, like the over/under on how many yards Brock Purdy will throw for or how many catches Travis Kelce will make.
But it can also be fun to place a bet on some things not directly related to the game being played on the field. Among the more popular Super Bowl novelty prop bets are related to a pregame football tradition — the signing of the National Anthem.
As is custom with most mainstream sporting events in the United States, the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl is usually done by a noted American vocalist.
At this year’s big game, country music legend Reba McEntire has the anthem honors. Joining the 68-year-old icon in the pre-game ceremony will be Post Malone (singing “America the Beautiful”) and Andra Day, who will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Let’s look back at some past performances to gauge the market for Super Bowl 58 National Anthem prop bets.
Super Bowl 58 National Anthem odds
The most common Super Bowl National Anthem wager is an OVER/UNDER bet on just how long it will take the vocalist to complete the song, from the first “Oh” to the final ringing note of “brave.”
FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM currently have these odds listed in Ontario for the National Anthem length:
FanDuel:
Over 90.5 seconds: +102Under 90.5 seconds: -128
DraftKings:
Over 90.5 seconds: -110Under 90.5 seconds: -110
BetMGM:
Over 90.5 seconds: +100Under 90.5 seconds: -130
When making a bet related to on-the-field occurrences, bettors have a wealth of stats to research a likely outcome. But how do you determine how long it might take a singer to complete a singing of the National Anthem?
While there’s not quite as much statistical data to pore over as there is with teams and athletes, there is plenty of performance-based information to look at before placing your bet.
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Where to bet on the Super Bowl National Anthem performance
In the U.S., legal online sportsbooks generally do not permit bets on the National Anthem, including the over/under on length. That’s in part due to varying state regulations, including several states that don’t allow wagering on events not tied to play on the field and a game’s outcome.
There are also concerns about the details surrounding an anthem performance not being a matter of chance. Singers will rehearse the song beforehand, so the length is somewhat predetermined. Handlers and others privy to the rehearsal could potentially know the length beforehand and manipulate the market.
In 2021, for example, before Super Bowl LV, a reporter posted a video on Twitter timing Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan practicing the song from across the street from the stadium.
There is an exception to U.S. online sportsbooks allowing National Anthem betting, so it’s worth keeping an eye out on the legal operators in your area as it gets closer to the Super Bowl.
If a sportsbook can find a creative way to tie the anthem into play on the field, it may be permitted. That’s what DraftKings did in 2021 when it allowed users to bet the over/under on whether the game’s shortest scoring drive would be longer or shorter than the length of the pre-game anthem.
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OVER/UNDER odds on Super Bowl National Anthem length
Novelty Super Bowl bets are more prevalent at sportsbooks outside of the U.S., including in Canada, where you can even bet (via FanDuel) on whether Travis Kelce will propose to Taylor Swift on the field after Super Bowl LVIII.
For the over/under on how long it will take Reba McEntire to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at this year’s Super Bowl, FanDuel in Canada opened with the length set at 1 minute and 24.5 seconds, which is considerably shorter than most anthems have gone, but in line with McEntire’s anthem performances.
As of Jan. 29, the projected length of Reba’s anthem on Canadian FanDuel had moved up to 1 minute and 30.5 seconds. That’s also on the low end of recent anthem performances.
Betting trends of Super Bowl National Anthem performances
The L.A. Times reported in 2022 that Super Bowl national anthems on average last 1 minute and 56 seconds.
In the past 10 years, the average National Anthem has ballooned to 2 minutes and 2 seconds. So at 90.5 seconds, McEntire’s 2024 Super Bowl anthem would very much be going against recent trends.
Here’s a look at the lengths of Super Bowl Anthem performances going back to 2007, when oddsmakers first began offering the market. Also included are the projected lengths so you can see when the over and under hit.
YEAR VOCALIST OVER/UNDER LENGTH ACTUAL LENGTH OVER or UNDER
2023
Chris Stapleton 2:05 2:01 OVER 2022 Mickey Guyton 1:35 1:52 OVER 2021 Jazmine Sullivan & Eric Church 1:59 2:17 OVER 2020 Demi Lovato 1:55 1:49 UNDER 2019 Gladys Knight 1:47 2:01 OVER 2018 P!nk 2:00 1:52 UNDER 2017 Luke Bryan 2:09 2:04 UNDER 2016 Lady Gaga 2:22 2:21 OVER 2015 Idina Menzel 2:02 2:04 OVER 2014 Renée Fleming 2:23 2:03 UNDER 2013 Alicia Keys 2:15 2:36 OVER 2012 Kelly Clarkson 1:34 1:34 PUSH 2011 Christina Aguilera 1:54 1:53 UNDER 2010 Carrie Underwood 1:41 1:47 OVER 2009 Jennifer Hudson 2:04 2:10 OVER 2008 Jordin Sparks 1:47 1:54 OVER 2007 Billy Joel 1:44 1:30 UNDER
Looking at the past 10 years, the over has hit 60% of the time, including at the past three Super Bowls.
The anthem performances at the three most recent Super Bowls have something else in common — all featured country singers.
So will McEntire, one of the biggest country singers of them all, also hit the over? There are a few other stats to look at.
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How long it usually takes Reba McEntire to sing the National Anthem
A big consideration in setting the over/under lengths of Super Bowl anthem performances is how long it usually takes the singer to get through the song, if they have a history of performing it.
Last year’s anthem singer Chris Stapleton didn’t appear to have any publicly available anthem performances to examine. It was also difficult to gauge the possible length of Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church’s duo performance in 2021, as they’d never done it together before.
Luckily for bettors this year, McEntire has extensive history with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And the reason the over/under length is set relatively low for her Super Bowl appearance is due to her previous brisk, efficient performances of the song.
In 1974, McEntire would sing the National Anthem before rodeos in Oklahoma City, which was where she was discovered by the Nashville recording artist who helped her eventually get a recording contract.
McEntire continued singing the anthem on the rodeo circuit for several years and she’d go on to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at other events, including before World Series games in 1985 and 1997.
Looking at several public anthem performances on YouTube, McEntire consistently brings the song in under 1 minute and 30 seconds.
McEntire’s earliest National Finals Rodeo performance from 1974 clocked in at 1:11. Ten years later at the same rodeo event she did the anthem in 1 minute and 18 seconds.
McEntire’s first World Series’ performance in 1985 was 1 minute and 7 seconds, while her ’97 World Series anthem, during which she appeared much more comfortable, was 1 minute and 22 seconds, the longest of all of her performances available on YouTube.
The most recent clip of McEntire singing the national anthem was from the 2017 City of Hope celebrity softball game. That performance was about 1 minute and 20 seconds long.
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McEntire likely to perform shortest Super Bowl anthems in years
McEntire’s singing style in general is somewhere between a traditional country singer and a more wailing R&B vocalist capable of a few flashy trills. But when she does the anthem, she generally sticks to the primary notes, with just a couple of twangy, hiccupy moments of country flair.
McEntire is more than 25 years removed from the 1997 World Series performance and is certainly even more comfortable in front of a huge audience now.
Perhaps McEntire might take a moment and milk the anthem an extra second or two for a pause or extra vocal flutter. It’s certainly deserved after such a monumental career and there might be extra emotional gravity given her history with the song. But even then, it likely wouldn’t add more than a second or two.
It seems most likely that McEntire will bring her Super Bowl anthem in at under 90 seconds.
Given her past performances, she could even rival Jewel, whose 87-second performance in 1998 was the shortest Super Bowl National Anthem of the past 30 years. But McEntire would really have to rush to beat the shortest anthem in Super Bowl history — Neil Diamond’s 62-second rendition in 1987.