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Once upon a time, only the most die-hard Taylor Swift fans could tell. To pay attention to the pop star's selection at the concession stand..
Now you can bet on it. Yes, it's true. The odds of seeing the biggest pop superstar of our time holding and eating a hot dog this coming Super Bowl Sunday are 12 to 1.
Taylor Swift's tectonic clash with two of America's biggest entertainment powerhouses, the NFL, dominated TV screens this fall as Swift began dating Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce.
Now, more than 115 million Americans are ready to watch Kelce's Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers. As of February 11th, sportsbooks are looking to take a bite out of their promotional apples.
Super Bowl proposition bets, which are bets on games that are not directly related to the final outcome, have always been popular. This year they have become a sideshow and their own circus. This is called the Taylor Swift effect.
How many times does Pop Queen appear in the game? Will she wear white, red, or a longshot color? Which Swift song will the CBS broadcast team play first? And of course the big question is, will Kelce end up proposing to her on her game? (Surprisingly, the odds are only 6-1 at online sportsbook BetUS.)
Who dreams of making a Super Bowl prop bet?
Dave Mason, brand manager at online sportsbook BetOnline, said identifying the storyline is always the first step when sportsbook oddsmakers begin creating prop bet lists for the Super Bowl each year.
“Of course, the best performance of the year has fallen into our laps,” he said.
Bettors can bet on 89 Swift-related prop bets from BetOnline that pay homage to the singer's birth year and platinum record. 1989. The company expects this year to be the most bet Super Bowl in the book's 25-year history.
Swift, Kelce and the Chiefs have become targets of right-wing conspiracy theories that claim the NFL was rigged to promote Democrats.
Sportsbooks haven't shied away from politics either. BetOnline puts odds of 3 to 1 on former President Donald Trump mentioning the singer on TruthSocial on Super Bowl Sunday, while BetUS puts odds of 10 to 1 on him endorsing Swift. Biden after the game.
After the Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl by defeating the Baltimore Ravens in last week's AFC Championship Game, sportsbook oddsmakers began brainstorming betting ideas. (In the process A post on social media site X by the company's sportsbook manager. We promise a $100 cash reward and ask for prop ideas.)
“We challenged ourselves to create the world’s largest Taylor Swift prop bet menu. We thought she set the bar in entertainment, so we should do the same in our industry,” said Mason.
The results span the entire spectrum of the Super Bowl and beyond. What color dress will Swift wear to the Grammy Awards this weekend? Will she be drinking champagne at the Super Bowl afterparty? Which will have more diamond carats: her Chiefs Super Bowl ring or Swift's engagement ring?
Prop bets are designed to help attract casual fans.
Sports gambling is now legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia after a 2018 Supreme Court ruling opened the door to nationwide legalization, the American Gambling Association reported.
Prop bets are designed to entice casual fans to “sign up and place bets for fun in a way that will entice them, and perhaps entice them to come back,” said Stephen Shapiro, a professor at the University of Sports and Entertainment Management. South Carolina.
“This is a way to attract people, so I think the Taylor Swift component provides an additional opportunity,” Shapiro said.
The NFL and sportsbooks must find a balance between marketing and revenue opportunities without driving individuals into gambling problems, he added. (According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, approximately 2 million Americans are estimated to have a serious gambling problem.)
US-based sportsbooks are generally limited to offering prop bets related to the game itself, such as how many touchdowns Kelce will score or whether the 49ers will receive the opening kickoff. (These limits help ensure bets have objective results that both bettors and sportsbooks can trust, like box scores, Shapiro said.)
For Taylor Swift bets and other similar bets, bettors must use sportsbooks based outside the United States. Many of these are not regulated by any government agency and, depending on your state, may be illegal to bet on. Non-game-related prop betting bets are often limited to $100 or less.
Taylor Swift's Super Bowl LVIII appearance has not yet been confirmed.
Swift has made a strong claim to being the biggest pop star in the world. 2023 has been a very big year for her thanks to her record-breaking Eras Tour, her first ever concert tour, which grossed over $1 billion. The accompanying concert film also grossed $261 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time.
A YouGov poll conducted this week found that more than half of Americans have a favorable opinion of her. That's a higher figure than any president hoping to win her support. And 6%, or 20 million people, described themselves as her “big fans.”
All Super Bowl prop bets depend on whether or not Swift will be in the game. Her attendance has not yet been publicly confirmed.
Swift is scheduled to perform a concert in Tokyo on Saturday night before the Super Bowl. Lest you wonder if that's enough time for her to go to Vegas for her match, don't worry. The Japanese Embassy said on Friday.
🇯🇵 Statement from the Japanese Embassy on Taylor Swift's Japan-to-US Travel Report ✈️🏈 Are you ready? pic.twitter.com/wFKadehTJk
— Japanese Embassy DC🌸 (@JapanEmbDC) February 2, 2024
“Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, we can now confidently say that if you depart for Tokyo the evening after the concert, you will be able to comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl,” the embassy said. In a statement on their social media accounts.