Super Bowl LVIII Prop Bets

Prop bets have become an annual tradition for us, pitting Cory and Eric against one another in every season of The Sportsballers Podcast except our first one.

That makes this our fifth year of making these wagers and, so far, Cory is +$39.31 after netting $5 on his Super Bowl LIV prop bets, $12.03 during Super Bowl LV, $17.96 during Super Bowl LVI, and $7.34 last February. That's right, Cory has come out ahead in each of our first four seasons, so Eric is licking his chops for revenge this year.

Here are our 10 prop bets in the order they were made on the show. As in the past, even odds bests are worth $5 and we'll include potential winnings for Cory and Eric based on the odds they get for each prop.

Prop Bets

1. Will it take over (+102)/under (-128) 90.5 seconds for Reba McEntire to sing the National Anthem?

We always include the National Anthem among our props and after winning Evan's tiebreaker on the show, Eric jumped right on it, taking the over.

Last year, the O/U was set at 2:02 and Eric won taking the under on a photo finish. This year he's taking the over. If he's wrong, this will be the shortest rendition of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl since it started being tracked in 2007.

If Eric is right taking the over, he stands to earn $5.10 from Cory. If this does set a new record for brevity, though, Cory will win $3.91 from Eric.

2. Will both teams have a lead in the 4th quarter? (+250 yes, -325 no)

With the second pick in our prop bet draft, Cory selected this prop and went not only where the better payout will be but also with the result of his Madden sim, where both teams did, in fact, hold leads during the final quarter of the team, even as the Chiefs ultimately extended their margin of victory to 10 points.

Looking back through Super Bowl history, while only six of the first 37 Super Bowl's featured a fourth quarter lead change, that has changed significantly in the past two decades. Ten of last 20 title games have featured both teams holding a lead at some point in the final 15 minutes of regulation.

If Cory is right and the lead changes hands at some point in the fourth quarter, he will win $12.50 from Eric and if he's wrong he'll only have to cough up $1.54.

3. Which point total will be higher, the combined total for the Chiefs and 49ers in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII (-145) or Jimmy Butler's game total against the Boston Celtics (+115)? VOID (Jimmy Butler will not play due to a death in the family)

We try to find a good cross-sports prop and with his second selection, Eric decided to pick a side on the only one we've got for this Sunday. He's concerned about Jimmy Butler; the Heat forward doesn't always show up for regular season games like famously does in the playoffs, so he's taking the first half points for the Super Bowl.

That suits Cory just fine. His Madden sim revealed a 10-7 halftime lead for the Chiefs. As long as we don't get a load management situation, he's confident Butler can at least get 17 points.

If Eric is right and Chiefs and 49ers have a strong opening half, he'll win $3.45 from Cory. If Playoff Jimmy shows out for this regular season game at 2pm on Sunday, Cory stands to earn $5.75 from Eric.

Replaced with: Will the jersey number of the first player to score a touchdown be over (+105)/under (-105) 19.5?

After learning of Butler's absence around 3:30pm Sunday, we called an audible and found a new prop bet to replace it with. It was Eric's selection, so he picked a new prop and went with this one. He took the potential money and went over, so he'll be hoping for a touchdown from Christian McCaffrey (23), Travis Kelce (87), or George Kittle (85) to be the first of the game.

Most of the other skill players who could score are in Cory's favor, which is why the under is a slight favorite despite CMC and Kelce both being on the over side. If the first touchdown is scored by either starting quarterback (Mahomes is 15 and Purdy is 13) or by one of Isiah Pacheco (10), Rashee Rice (4), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (11), Brandon Aiyuk (11), or Deebo Samuel (19), Cory will win the bet.

If Eric was right, he'll win $5.25, otherwise he'll send $4.76 to Cory.

4. Will the longest touchdown of the game be scored by the Chiefs (+116) or the 49ers (-142)?

With the fourth selection, Cory used his Madden sim to make another prediction. The longest of seven touchdowns in his game was an 83-yard touchdown run by Isiah Pacheco.

Once again, Cory has the higher potential payout on this bet. He'll win $5.80 from Eric if the Chiefs score the longest touchdown of the game. If the 49ers do it instead, he'll pony up $4.39 to Eric.

5. Will the team that scores first win the game? (-188 yes, +152 no)

Finally, halfway through our prop bets segment, Eric selected an option that can net him more than the base $5 for a win. Eric is predicting that this will be the tenth time in Super Bowl history that the team to score first winds up losing the game.

Previous Super Bowl winners who trailed after the first score are:

• Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl IV vs Minnesota Vikings)

• Pittsburgh Steelers (Super Bowl XIV vs Los Angeles Rams)

• Oakland Raiders (Super Bowl XV vs Philadelphia Eagles)

• Denver Broncos (Super Bowl XXXII vs Green Bay Packers)

• Indianapolis Colts (Super Bowl XLI vs Chicago Bears)

• Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl LII vs New England Patriots)

• Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl LIV vs San Francisco 49ers)

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Super Bowl LVI vs Los Angeles Rams)

• Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl LVII vs Philadelphia Eagles)

If Eric is right, this will be the first time in Super Bowl history that the first team to score loses in three straight seasons. It would earned him $7.60. If instead the outcome is like 84% of Super Bowl history and the opening scorer goes on to win, Cory will earn $2.66 from Eric.

6. Will over (+105)/under (-140) 4.5 different players score touchdowns.

With the higher payout on the over, Cory took the opportunity to again rely on his Madden sim in making his third prop bet selection. Six different players scored in his sim, including Isiah Pacheco (2x), Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Rashee Rice, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Brandon Aiyuk. (Note: the passer on a receiving touchdown does not count toward this prop)

If even five different players score, Cory will win $5.25, but if that number stays at or below four, Eric stands to win $3.57.

7. Will the total yardage of all touchdowns scored be over/under (EVEN) 73.5 yards?

With the odds on both sides of this prop set at -110, we simply made it an even odds bet, which means the winner will claim $5.

Eric is predicting a total of five touchdowns. If he's right and those touchdowns average 15 yards he'll be over 73.5, so naturally that's where he went.

Considering he's got an 83-yard touchdown run predicted for Pacheco, Cory also wanted the over so he's already prepared to fork over a Lincoln to Eric after the game if the under doesn't hit.

8. Will any player score 2+ touchdowns? (-185 yes, +135 no)

Cory didn't prefer the underdog on any of the remaining props, so with his penultimate selection he took the favorite on this prop bet, saying that there will be a player who scores multiple touchdowns. It's happened in 31 of the first 57 Super Bowls, including six of the last seven.

His Madden sim has Isiah Pacheco scoring twice on the ground, but Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and Travis Kelce are all just as likely to do so.

If Cory is right, he'll win $2.70 from Eric. Meanwhile, Eric said he also would've taken yes, but he'll accept the possibility of a $6.75 payout if Cory is wrong.

9. Will either team score in the first 5:00 of the game? (+198 yes, -250 no)

Full play-by-plays with clock data isn't available for any Super Bowl prior to XXXIV between the Rams and Titans. However, in only 6 of last 20 Super Bowls has a team scored with 10 minutes or more remaining in the first quarter, which explains the heavy lean toward "no" being the favorite.

Eric used his last choice to again increase his earnings potential, saying that there will be an early score. We saw one last year but we haven't seen it happen in consecutive years yet. If he's right and this is a first in Super Bowl history, he'll earn $9.90 from Cory, otherwise he'll have to send an even $2.00 to Cory.

10. Will over (+160)/under (-205) 2.5 players attempt a pass?

Another prop we enjoy using in most seasons, Cory had been hoping Eric would select this and take the decision out of his hand. His Madden sim had passing attempts by only Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy so he had to take the under even though he would have been perfectly content if Eric had selected the under and left him with the higher potential payout.

If the two starting quarterbacks are the only two to attempt a pass on Sunday, Cory will win $2.44 from Eric. If anybody else attempts a pass, as has happened in four of the last 11 Super Bowls, he'll send $8.00 Eric's way.

Adding up these prop bets, Eric has the higher potential winnings, as usual. Two years ago, Eric had a potential payout margin of +2.12 over Cory based on how much they would earn with 10-0 records. Last year that margin grew to $6.21 and, as usual, it didn't matter as Cory came out again again.

This year, if Eric goes 10-0, he'll come away with $55.30 $57.10. A 10-0 record the other way will net Cory $48.01 $47.02, meaning the margin has grown again, now to $7.29 $10.08 in Eric's favor.