By the Beacon Journal features staff
Super Bowl betting isn’t always about football.
Las Vegas will take your money on all sorts of weird wagers, from which song Coldplay will perform first at halftime to whether Peyton Manning will be shown crying during the broadcast.
Why not take a cue from the oddsmakers and add some prop bets to your own Super Bowl gathering? Prop is short for proposition, which just means you’re betting on the likelihood of a proposed scenario coming true.
We put together the following list of prop bets with input from Beacon Journal Browns beat reporter Nate Ulrich and his cousin and Super Bowl host, Keir Ulrich of Cuyahoga Falls.
No elaborate oddsmaking is needed here, and no money needs to change hands. Just award a point for each correct answer and tally them up at the end of the game to determine a winner. We suggest limiting the guesses to action that happens after the coin toss, unless otherwise specified.
So print out the list, distribute the copies to your guests and let the competition begin.
1. How long will the national anthem be? (closest wins)
2. Which iconic San Francisco landmark will be shown first?
3. Which other Manning will be mentioned first — Archie, Eli or Cooper?
4. Which beer brand will be advertised first?
5. Will the first score be a touchdown, field goal or safety?
6. Will there be a scoreless quarter?
7. Will the Al Jazeera report on Peyton Manning and HGH be mentioned?
8. Will there be a special-teams touchdown?
9. Will John Elway be shown on TV during the first quarter?
10. Will former Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who is now the Panthers’ backup, take a snap?
11. Will Left Shark make an appearance during the halftime show?
12. Will former Browns safety T.J. Ward force a turnover for the Broncos?
13. Will there be a fourth-down conversion?
14. Will Cam Newton do an open-shirt Superman motion in the third quarter?
15. Will Mike Carey be wrong about a challenge?
16. Will Johnny Manziel be mentioned during the broadcast?
17. Will Betty White appear in a commercial?
18. Will Panthers tight end Greg Olsen have more than five catches?
19. Will there be a penalty for excessive celebration?
20. Will anyone in the cast of The Big Bang Theory be shown in the crowd?
21. Will Cam Newton’s college scandal be mentioned?
22. Will the announcers mention “the Dab” or “dabbing”?
23. Will there be a lead change in the fourth quarter?
24. What color of Gatorade will be poured over the winning coach’s head?
25. Will Bill Cowher predict the winner correctly?