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This Super Bowl Sunday, why limit yourself to watching the game when you could be gambling while you do it?
At least that’s how millions of Americans will be spending game day. The American Gaming Association expects 67 million Americans will be wagering on Super Bowl 60, spending roughly $1.76 billion — a 27% year-over-year increase and a record number.
Football is far from the only thing you can bet on come Sunday. The biggest game day of the year is a free-for-all for bettors of all stripes, and it’s easier than ever to place a wager on the weirdest of outcomes.
Sure, you can still put money on who wins Super Bowl 60 when the Seattle Seahawks (the clear favorites) face the New England Patriots (the de facto underdogs). But plenty of action has nothing to do with coin toss wins, touchdowns or the MVP.
Will Stefon Diggs propose to Cardi B after the game?
Here are some of the more notable novelty bets we’ve seen so far from popular sports betting apps like DraftKings and BetMGM, as well as prediction market newcomers Kalshi and Polymarket:
The first song in Bad Bunny’s halftime set and what he’ll wear during it.
If a player or coach will cry during the National Anthem, and the total length of the last “brave” note held during the song.
Temperature at the time of kickoff in Santa Clara, Calif.
Color of first gatorade pouring on the winning head coach, and the positions of the players who pour it.
The number of times Cardi B will appear on the broadcast, and if Stefon Diggs will propose to her after the game.
Who will be in attendance — Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet or Drake?
Who the MVP winner will thank at the podium (God sits at number one, followed by teammates).
At this point, most anything is fair game during the big game. And the Super Bowl isn’t the only major event happening this weekend: it coincides with the opening games of the Winter Olympics, which are already generating a slew of bets across its 116 events.
How sports betting went normie
Before 2018, legal sports betting was limited to Nevada, which meant the illegal sports betting market was thriving. Then in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Murphy vs. NCAA that the federal government can’t bar states from creating their own rules around sports betting.
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What’s changing isn’t that people like to gamble — it’s that betting apps and websites are frictionless — it’s legal, instant and available on your phone. You can place a wager in seconds and adjust it mid-game as the app’s algorithm updates the odds in real time. Sports betting is so baked in at this point, it’s reshaped how people watch.
A Jan. 26 report from Ipsos found that the share of Americans who have placed a bet on a live sporting event has doubled since 2022. It found that 17% of Americans surveyed had placed a legal sports bet up from 13% in 2024, and 8% in both 2022 and 2023.
Prediction markets are in the game, too
App-based gambling is king, but prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi have also exploded in both volume and visibility. On these prediction markets, you can bet on real-world outcomes for everything from elections to economic data, awards and, yes, sporting events like the Super Bowl.
It’s the second Super Bowl for Kalshi and the first for Polymarket. As of Feb. 4, Kalshi said that its Super Bowl 60 contracts had generated more than $161 million in trading volume.
Prediction markets use tradable contracts that are priced to reflect the crowd’s belief about the likelihood of something happening. On these platforms, every contract is a yes or no bet and you get $1 if you’re right and nothing if you’re wrong. The price tells you the market’s estimate of the chance of an outcome.
As of now, the Seahawks are priced at 68 cents, which means the market thinks the Seahawks have a 68% chance of winning. If you buy a “yes” contract at 68 cents and the Seahawks win, you get $1 — a 32 cent profit. Meanwhile, the Patriots are at 33 cents, which means the market thinks they have a 33% chance to win. If you buy a “yes” contract at 33 cents and they win, you pocket 67 cents.
While the boundaries between traditional gambling apps and prediction markets are fading, the NFL is drawing one line in the sand: Kalshi and Polymarket have been banned from advertising during the Super Bowl, lumped in with tobacco, firearms and pornography. Traditional gambling apps like FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars are free to run ads (and I bet they will).
Apps, gambling and watching sports are all fun, but they can also be habit-forming. At a certain point, betting apps can stop feeling like a game and the stakes get real fast
You’ll get no finger-wagging from me: If you want to gamble, go for it. But it’s key to treat betting like entertainment, not income. It helps to set your own limits, stick to them and back out if you’re not having a good time.
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images News via Getty Images)
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