The Super Bowl, arguably the biggest sporting event of the year, champions a winner of a long and grueling NFL season. This year, we are coincidentally getting a repeat matchup of Super Bowl LIV, a game in which the Chiefs bested the 49ers with a final score of 31-20. This time, the 49ers are looking to rewrite the script, and they may just have luck on their side.
Over the course of the last 19 Super Bowls, only three teams have won while not wearing white jerseys, and in line with this trend, San Francisco will be donning their white uniforms come Sunday night. That said, one of those three times was when the Chiefs bested them in 2020, so anything can happen.
With it being one of the most watched sporting events in the U.S., there will naturally be a large betting market on this game. The most popular bets are straight up bets (who will win the game), a team to win by a certain amount of points, and the total points in the game. Many books also allow you to bet on more random aspects of the game, like the direction of Christian McCaffrey’s first rush and how long it will be. Personally, we think that Left and 9 yards or fewer +330 looks to be a good bet. We have highlighted a couple of bets we think are worthwhile below.
Travis Kelce over 6.5 receptions (-160): if the Chiefs are looking to hoist the Lombardi trophy once more, Kelce will be instrumental in their plans. The 49ers, with one of the best rush defenses in the NFL, will presumably stop Isiah Pacheco on the ground, leading Kansas City to look elsewhere for offense. They have a relatively inexperienced wide receiver group, so a lot of the receiving burden might fall on Kelce’s shoulders. Good thing he is one of the greatest tight ends in recent years—he caught 11 passes for 116 yards against the Ravens in the conference championship, and he will be looking to build off of that impressive performance.
Another bet to keep your eye on: Travis Kelce to propose to Taylor Swift (+1200). While only available in Canada, this wager is a small representation of a larger phenomenon that has been the topic of discussion in the media—Taylor Swift’s involvement in the NFL. Ever since Kelce and Swift were rumored to be dating, it is safe to say that there hasn’t exactly been a lack of media coverage. From fans speculating whether or not Swift was being smuggled in and out of football games in a popcorn machine (yes, this was a real question) to doing in-depth analysis on the impact her presence has on team performance, Swift has greatly impacted the media coverage this season.
Christian McCaffrey (CMC) anytime TD (-225): we would be remiss in not mentioning CMC anytime TD scorer, one of the most frequently winning bets of the past year. CMC had 14 touchdowns in the regular season and followed that up with two touchdowns in each of the 49ers two divisional rounds. The 49ers will look to take advantage of their dominant rushing game and take the pressure off Brock Purdy, so look for McCaffrey to be getting significant usage this game.
One of the most entertaining bets of the Super Bowl is guessing which color Gatorade will be poured on the winning coach. Every year, people will DM players, email equipment staff, and try to contact anyone they know working at Gatorade to see if they can predict the color of the end-of-game victory Gatorade shower. The Chiefs shocked many last year with purple Gatorade (+1000), a seldom used color. Orange looks to have good value at +330. Not only has orange been the most frequently used color since 2001, but it also was used by the Chiefs in 2020 when they defeated the 49ers.
Another bet the Indy Sportsbook loves to place is the result of the opening kickoff coin toss. Heads has shown up marginally less, appearing 47% of the time. While the coin toss itself is random, it recently has been indicative of who will go on to win the Super Bowl. Prior to last year’s game, there was an eight year streak where the winner of the coin toss would end up losing the game. Just something to consider when placing your live bets.
Arguably, the most research intensive of the trivial bets is the over/under on the National Anthem. This year’s singer, Reba McEntire, is predicted to sing a much shorter rendition of the song than what is historically traditional. The current line is set at 90.5 seconds, much lower compared to the usual length of around two minutes. The best bet is to choose the over—singers usually tend to draw the anthem out on this stage, and we think McEntire will follow this trend. Two years ago, a similar line was set (95.5 seconds), but the actual performance was over 20 seconds longer than the line, so look to include the National Anthem over in your betting slate come this Sunday.
Good money might be on the Chiefs this year, at least if you put stock in the moon cycles. That’s right, one fan went to extreme depths and researched the Chiefs performance based on the moon phase that will be occurring on Sunday. While playing under a waxing crescent moon, the Chiefs are 19-1 in the last five years. Some may be quick to discount this reasoning, but this kind of thing has happened before. On Thanksgiving, the Lions were playing under a waning gibbous, a moon phase that they lost their last twelve Thanksgiving Day Games under. They then proceeded to get upset by the at-the-time struggling Green Bay Packers, so maybe the Chiefs will have lunar power on their side.
Regardless of which team you think will win, this matchup is sure to make it a very entertaining game, and, who knows, you might just make some money.
Andrew Christie ’26(andrewchristie@college.harvard.edu) is a consistent money maker, and one should consider listening to his bet suggestions in the Harvard Independent.