The biggest football game of the year is coming up, and with it a lot of viewer interest. Even those who don’t necessarily watch sports enjoy watching The Big Game, and it becomes a social activity unlike most around sports.
The Big Game also draws the attention of sports bettors, but not just on who will win the game. Moreso than other games, it draws a lot of intense interest from the beginning of the season, but as the game approaches more betting options pop up. Some of them fall into the bucket of more unusual betting options.
If you’re new to making bets on sportsbooks, which can be done via app or computer in many states, we’ve also got new player offers available to check out – many don’t require much investment to get a bonus right now! And if you want to learn how sports betting works, our Introduction to Sports Betting guide is a great place to begin!
Here are examples of bets you can make on and around The Big Game. Due to regulations, not all bets are available in all states, so some of the options below may not be available to you.
The Coin Toss
Let’s start simple. If betting on the game itself is too stressful, or you don’t know enough about the team, how about a bet on a coin flip?
The game always starts with a coin flip to see which team goes first. On all three of our featured sportsbooks, you can bet on whether the coin flip comes up heads or tails. You can also bet on which team wins the coin flip.
Here, you don’t need to know each team’s acumen. It’s literally a coin flip as to who wins. The odds on these bets are nearly 50/50, but there’s a house edge baked into them.
The odds vary by site, and do evolve, so we encourage players to check each site to see who offers the best odds at a given point.
Will There Be Overtime?
Forget about all the nuances of the game. Will it go to overtime? You can make a simple yes or no bet as to whether you think the game will go into overtime.
The odds certainly favor it not going into overtime, so you won’t get paid nearly as well on a No bet vs. a Yes bet, but the odds of a Yes scenario happening are pretty small.
The First Timeout
This is another one of those coin-flip type scenarios. Inevitably during a game, someone will call a timeout at some point. Who will be first?
You have the ability to bet on which team will be the most likely to call the first timeout. There are various cases and scenarios where timeouts can be valuable, so it’s going to depend on the game – and so this bet is effectively a coin flip as well.
What Color Will the Gatorade Be?
It’s a pretty common tradition that the winning coach gets doused in Gatorade at the end of each year’s match-up. What’s not necessarily known, however, is what color that Gatorade will be.
Some sports sites, where allowed, will let players bet on what color the Gatorade will be when the inevitable dousing happens. You can also bet on none – there’s always that chance that the coach comes out unscathed!
The Length of the National Anthem
If you want to avoid betting on something game-related at all, here’s one for you: You can bet on whether the national anthem will be longer or shorter than a set amount. The average rendition lasts just under 2 minutes, and each year singers put their own flair on the performance.
So, you can bet on that and see what the outcome will be!
Next Year’s Winner
If this year’s game is already passe, not to worry – sites will happily take your bets for next year’s winner now! Sure, it’ll take a year or so to resolve the bet, but you can take a swing at it right now!
Takeaway
Even if you’re not a big sports fan, you can get in on the fun with a low-stakes wager on The Big Game.
What’s your favorite bet to make? Share in the comments!
