- Novelty prop bets around the Super Bowl are centering on Taylor Swift this year.
- Many of these bets are on unregulated sites, since it’s generally not legal to offer them in the US.
- Legal US betting apps are getting in on the action in other ways, including with “Swiftie Specials.”
Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift on the field after the Super Bowl? Will Swift take the stage during halftime?
With the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl and Swift expected to be in the audience, many novelty prop bets this year are centering on the megastar. Gamblers are betting on everything from how many times Swift will appear during the broadcast to what she’ll wear.
These bets are happening, for the most part, on offshore platforms — sites like Bovada and BetOnline — that are unregulated and can’t operate legally in the US.
While sports betting is legal in more than 30 US states, regulators have strict rules on what Americans can wager on. Prop bets — or wagers on outcomes other than who will win or lose a game — are generally limited to the action in a sporting event and events with definitive outcomes. The limitations vary by state.
But legal gambling operators in the US don’t want to miss out entirely. While they can’t craft bets around Swift’s actions, they are trying to pull her into prop bets focused on star players.
DraftKings, for instance, has a menu of over 30 “Swiftie Specials.” These are typical prop bets but are named after Swift songs. They include the “Shake It Off,” which has the Philadelphia Eagles scoring first and the Chiefs to win. “Mine” bets Kelce will get 87 or more receiving yards and score one or more touchdowns. The “I Knew You Were Trouble” wagers that Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will get 250 or more rush and receiving yards. And “Deja Vu” has the Chiefs winning by exactly three points.
“We’re seeing a lot of interest on the Taylor Swift-related special, so we’re very excited to roll those out,” DraftKings CMO Stephanie Sherman told Business Insider.
Betting operator Bet365 has similar offerings, including the “1989” on Kelce to have a reception for 19 or more yards and 89 or more receiving yards, as well as the “22” on the Chiefs tight end to record a record 22-plus receiving yards in each half.
In North American markets like Ontario, Canada, where the restrictions are a little more lax, operators like FanDuel and BetMGM legally can — and are — offering bets on whether Kelce will propose on the field, too.
“If there’s an opportunity to leverage her fame and her involvement with Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs and her being at the game and being part of the broadcast, I think people are going to try to pull this off,” Jason Logan, senior analyst at the gambling affiliate site Covers.com, told BI.
Why you can’t legally bet on a Kelce-Swift proposal in the US
The restrictions against many types of prop bets in the US are largely set up to prevent markets from being manipulated. For example, members of Swift’s inner circle might be privy to what the artist plans to wear to the game.
“That’s the nightmare scenario for gaming control boards,” Logan said. “Someone knows that information and can leverage it to manipulate the markets.”
That’s why legal operators like DraftKings or FanDuel can’t offer bets in the US on whether Swift will appear onstage with Kendrick Lamar during halftime, for example.
Swift isn’t the sole focus of this Super Bowl’s novelty prop bets. Gambling operators are also taking wagers in some US states on the coin toss, which is related to the action in a game and has a definitive outcome. Other novelty bets available legally in places like Ontario — and offered by some offshore sites — include how long the national anthem will run and the color of the Gatorade bath.
The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will wager a record $1.4 billion legally on Super Bowl LIX. Some analysts have pegged the figure even higher, at around $1.7 billion.
With that much at stake, it’s easy to see why companies like DraftKings are chasing Swifties this year. The star has helped bring in a new fan base for the NFL since she began dating Kelce and showing up to support him at games. Last year, a 24% spike in 18-to-24-year-old women viewers helped drive a record 123.7 million average viewers for the Super Bowl, Sportico reported, citing Nielsen data.
Betting apps want a piece of that pie.
“They’re trying to leverage that interest, the cross-the-aisle interest, bringing in fans that might not be big football fans,” Logan said.
