The most commonly asked question in the sports world these days boils down to six words:
Who ya got, Rams or Bengals?
With Super Bowl LVI fast approaching, of course the game — and that question — attracts everyone’s attention. At the $5 billion SoFi Stadium, the hometown Los Angeles Rams essentially plays host to the Cincinnati Bengals. A long NFL championship drought will come to a close: Either the Rams claim the title for the first time in 22 years, or Cincy lifts the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since becoming a franchise in 1967.
Certainly, just betting on the moneyline or point spread or over/under is exciting in New York. After all, this will mark the first Super Bowl in the legal online wagering era of the Empire State.
But there is so much more to Super Bowl betting than picking a winner. Literally. So much more. All thanks to proposition bets, more commonly known as props. Those game-within-the-game kinds of wagers.
While exciting, however, regulators in the state have prohibited some of the most popular prop bets in other markets. That includes wagering on the Super Bowl MVP and color of the celebratory Gatorade bath. Per the New York State Gaming Commission, who must approve betting markets before sportsbooks roll them out, props considered “not part of the actual game” do not receive approval.
All that said, at PlayNY, we take a look at the array of props available at NY online sportsbooks.
Flip of a coin: Heads or tails?
Although the NYSGC prohibits some of the most popular Super Bowl betting markets, not all are off the table.
And that means a prop exists in New York before the game even kicks off.
The only question you need to ask yourself: Heads or tails?
Each online sportsbook in the state offers odds on the coin flip, from which team will win the toss, if the player correctly guesses the result and if the team that wins the toss also wins the game.
What’s more, you can put yourself in position to win the coin flip. Bettors in New York can wager on if the toss comes up heads or tails. Those lines range from -108 for each result at PointsBet NY to +100 for each at Caesars NY.
For what it’s worth, three of the last four coin tosses have come up heads, following a string of four consecutive tails results. Also, semi-interesting note, each of the last seven coin toss winners actually lost the Super Bowl.
Pick your player prop
The most fundamental of prop bets involve individual player statistics.
Of course, the Super Bowl has plenty of those.
Start with this question from FanDuel Sportsbook NY: Will any quarterback pass for 400+ yards? Something done just three times in Super Bowl history. If you bank on Matthew Stafford or Joe Burrow to join that elite group, it would pay out +610, compared with the -1,050 odds for no.
FanDuel doesn’t expect either QB to rack up that many yards. In fact, the over/under for Cincinnati’s Burrow and Los Angeles’ Stafford sit at 278.5 and 283.5, respectively. You can even pit the two quarterbacks head-to-head at BetMGM New York by wagering on either Burrow (-115) or Stafford (-115) to finish with more passing yards.
Obviously having a top-tier receiver will help each quarterback reach even those totals. Fortunately, Burrow and Stafford have such assets.
Which of those wideouts will finish the more receiving yards remains the question. The Rams’ Cooper Kupp (-176 at BetMGM) took home the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award after posting the Triple Crown of receiving stats by leading the NFL in yards, catches and touchdowns. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase (+142) recorded the most receiving yards by a rookie in the Super Bowl era and set the Bengals’ single-season franchise record. On top of that, his 266 yards in Week 17 stand as the most by a rookie in one game in league history.
Can’t decide between the two? Take both at PointsBet, where you can wager on Chase and Kupp combining for 200 or more yards at -120 odds.
What about Super Bowl props for teams?
Individual players garner the spotlight, but teams win the games. Right? That’s what coaches told us, anyway.
With any of the seven online sportsbooks in New York, bettors can wager on more team- and game-specific props. Markets such as first team to score, both teams scoring a TD on their opening drives, if the team that scores first wins the game.
PointsBet even set a prop on number of plays featured during the first touchdown drive. Lines range from +1,000 for one or two plays all the way to +4,000 for 20 or more. The sportsbook also has an over/under for the jersey number (23.5) of the player scoring the game’s first touchdown.
Another interesting prop at PointsBet includes betting on which type of scoring play will have more yards: touchdown (+110) or field goal (-140). Along those lines, bettors at FanDuel can find over/under markets for the length of the longest (42.5 yards) and shortest (1.5) touchdowns.
Some unique terms crop up with props as well. Scorigami, for example, means a unique final score in NFL history. FanDuel asks bettors if one will occur on Sunday with a line of +1,400 for yes and -2,500 for no. What about an Octopus? This involves a stat or occurrence during the game when a player scores a TD and converts the following 2-point conversion, something never accomplished in the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl betting crossing over to other sports
Caesars sportsbook wonders several similarly styled questions for the Super Bowl.
For example, which is longer: Longest TD scored (+100) or the first punt (-130)? What about more total points (-155) or length of the game’s longest field goal (+125)?
But Caesars also takes this curiosity to other sports. Here are a few that stand out among the “which will be more” markets:
- Joe Burrow yards of longest completion +1.5 (-130) or Steph Curry points+rebs+assists Feb. 12 (+100) against Lakers
- Rams points scored (-115) or Trae Young points scored Feb. 13 (-115) at Celtics
- Matthew Stafford pass attempts +0.5 (-115) or Jayson Tatum points+rebounds Feb. 13 (-115) vs. Hawks
- Odell Beckham Jr receptions (+120) or USA/Germany men’s ice hockey goals scored Feb. 13 (-150) at Winter Olympics
