Don't Let The Novelty Of Super Bowl Betting Wear Off With These Props

49ers vs. Chiefs, 6:30 ET

It is an annual tradition that I tell this story. It is among my favorite of the degenerate things that I've done. About five years or so ago, when I started getting even more into sports betting than I was before, I called one of the teams participating in the Super Bowl. Why? Well, there was a prop about the Gatorade color and I figured if I could get in touch with the equipment manager or someone they might just be willing to tell me which color the liquid would be. I called multiple times asking to talk to different spots. The only conversation I actually had was with the team ticket sales department. That didn't work out well as he gave me no information and basically laughed at my question. The things we go through for a win. Let's take a look at the novelty props for Super Bowl LVIII. 

Let's start with the aforementioned Gatorade bath. It is a true right of passage for the winning team to dump a bucket on the winning coach. A lot of times, the winning team tends to dump a bucket of whatever the team color is on the coach. That would likely be Red for both teams, which is currently +350. However, we've seen the Chiefs win a couple of Super Bowls. What did head coach Andy Reid get dumped on him? In the Super Bowl against the 49ers, it was Orange (+300). Last season, the Chiefs won again and it was purple, which is the current favorite. I personally don't understand purple as grape is essentially the worst flavor of everything (I had this argument last year with readers and I understand that purple Gatorade isn't grape, but I pretty much rule out any purple items because of how bad grape flavored stuff is). Interestingly enough, the only team to have the same color Gatorade more than once was the Patriots. They also didn't have a Gatordate bath multiple times. The Chiefs are too fun to not have a bath, and the 49ers will want to give one to Kyle Shanahan. The only videos that I've seen for the 49ers - none of them in the playoffs - have Shanahan being dumped with water. I will play red and clear at +1000 for this one. 

Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce runs after a catch vs. the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 AFC divisional round at Highmark Stadium in New York. (Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports)

I love touchdown scorer props. I wrote an entire article about those already, but now we have a novelty prop that has the jersey number of the first touchdown scorer and the last touchdown scorer. If we are to assume that Christian McCaffrey is going to score the first touchdown, we have to play the over for jersey number at over 22.5. McCaffrey is number 23. The wide receivers for the 49ers have mostly lower numbers - Brandon Aiyuk is 11, Deebo Samuel is 19. Brock Purdy wears number 13, so basically we'd need to avoid a rushing touchdown, which is the easiest way to score against the Chiefs. If the Chiefs score first, you would first consider Travis Kelce who wears number 87, significantly over the 22.5 line. Their wide receivers also tend to have lower numbers - Rashee Rice is number 4, Marquez Valdes-Scantling is 11, and even Isiah Pacheco, their running back, is 10. Here's what you do - take the under 22.5 for jersey number to score the first touchdown. While it is possible it will be a rushing touchdown, you can bet McCaffrey or Kelce to score the first touchdown. Could you lose all three bets? Absolutely, but you're covering a lot of ground, and two of them are at plus money. I like the under 22.5 for first touchdown scorer. As far as last touchdown, I think the logic is similar, the two most logical over choices are McCaffrey and Kelce. You get a ton of options with the under so I'd lean that way as well. 

If you want another complete coin flip, you'll bet on the coin toss. The 49ers are the away team in this game so they get to call the coin toss when it goes in the air. The 49ers won the toss in the last Super Bowl and they had tails. The Chiefs won last year calling Tails. I'm guessing this will once again be a Tails call. I do think the best thing to do is not play this, but if you're looking for some fun, take Tails. I also think we could see the Chiefs winning this toss and then getting the ball in the second half as they like to do. Just a complete guess. 

I don't have anything really for the Coaches Challenge. I think Andy Reid will be more likely to throw the flag first - that's what the bet is, who calls a challenge first - but this really is about the refs. The whole world thinks the refs will be on the side of Kansas City. That would indicate that they are likely to get something wrong and the bet would make sense for the 49ers to throw the first flag. Just like the coin toss, this would be a complete guess. I think Reid is likelier to throw the first challenge flag, but I think Shanahan is probably the more logical choice. 

One last bet that I really do like is the Combined TD Scorer Jersey Numbers. I don't have an answer yet, but if Christian McCaffrey were to score two touchdowns, I believe it only counts for 23 total points, not 46. The total is 121.5 right now. I would think three different players at least score a touchdown. Right now the favorites are McCaffrey, Pacheco, and Kelce. The three of them would combine to be 120. Almost anyone else would push us over the total. I like the over. It is a bit juicy at -150, but I like it. I am somewhat assuming that Kelce scores and he gets us the majority of what we need. Again, you could just bet him to score a touchdown, but this is for some fun. Let's play the over. 

 For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024