Super Bowl 59 National Anthem Bets: Jon Batiste Takes Center Stage

No Super Bowl betting portfolio is complete until you have a bet on something that happens before the game even starts.

I’m talking, of course, about Super Bowl National Anthem bets, which are required for any true degenerate when watching the Super Bowl. Each season, sportsbooks offer props for the length of the national anthem and sometimes will even take things a step further and offer other markets on things associated with the anthem.

Today, we’ll look at the circumstances around the anthem for Super Bowl 59 and where the odds are set in the current anthem markets for betting. 

How to Bet on the National Anthem for Super Bowl 59

National Anthem betting isn’t an exact science either, which makes it more fun to bet on than a lot of regular props. Each artist is entirely different and has their quirks, personality, and anthem histories that we need to take into account, but we don’t have a ton of data to work off of.

For example, last season, Country superstar Reba McEntire came in at a terse 1 minute and 28 seconds (88 seconds) which was the shortest anthem in over a decade.

However, even her performance wasn’t without controversy. She strung out two “Braves” at the end of the anthem which created some unsureness around when her performance ended. Some books paid out the over (which was set around 1 minute and 30.5 seconds) while others decided that it ended after the first brave, and paid the under.

Regardless, this is even a tough market to grade, let alone a bet—which is why I’m going to give you as much info as possible about it below so you can make an informed decision about which anthem bets you want to add before the big game. 

Who will Sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl 59?

It was announced in January that five-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste would sing the anthem at Super Bowl 59. 

Batiste is a singer-songwriter who typically blends a unique fusion of jazz, R&B and soul, and pop in his songs. He’s also a multi-talented instrumentalist who has performed the anthem at sporting events before. 

The expectation is that Batiste will use some kind of instrument in his performance, with a piano being the most likely instrument used based on his history. However, no details as to which instrument he’ll use have been released.

Super Bowl 59 National Anthem Betting Odds

As of now, FanDuel Canada is the only sportsbook with betting odds for the National Anthem ready to bet on their site. Almost all of the major sportsbooks will have Anthem odds released by next week, but it’s good to use these as a guideline for now. 

Here are the current National Anthem odds and betting markets at FanDuel.

As of now, the National Anthem length is set at two minutes flat, or 120.5 seconds. That’s important to note, as it’s 25-32 seconds longer than the anthem went last year (depending on when it officially ended, the first or second “brave”).

However, Jon Batiste and last year’s performer are very different stylistically. Reba McEntire doesn’t use instruments when she performs and was well known for singing “shorter” anthems in the past. Batiste is the exact opposite. He almost always performs with some kind of instrument and is likely to use at least one in his performance at Super Bowl 59—which would almost certainly lengthen his anthem, especially if it’s a piano.

The likelihood of a longer performance is already reflected in the odds as the over is set at a juiced -142 (58% implied probability). I expect these odds may even get shorter, or we’ll see the total rise above 2 minutes if word gets out that Batiste is using a piano.

FanDuel also offers a couple more markets and I’ve listed the terms on their site for each in the table above. As of now, “Piano” is a -400 favorite (80% implied probability) to be included in the performance.

You can also bet on the length of the last word Batiste sings from the anthem. FanDuel has the final “Brave” set at 3.5 seconds, with the under the favorite at -128 (56% implied probability). 

Super Bowl National Anthem Betting History

The Anthem can vary dramatically in length depending on performer. Here are the last 10 performers of the National Anthem along with their O/U Total and actual length of their performance.

This is a pretty basic summary of the anthem bet. A lot of totals for each season fluctuated a lot during Super Bowl week as some information came out about the winger and money started coming in in one direction, but the O/Us above are about where each singer closed at.

As mentioned above, these bets can be somewhat controversial when we have a situation like we did last season with McEntire (who sang two Braves at the end of her Anthem, putting the finishing time into doubt).

Super Bowl 59 National Anthem Best Bet

Over 120.5 seconds (-142; FanDuel)

Honestly, this line seems pretty short for an instrumentalist like Jon Batiste and I think you’ll see it rise throughout the week. We’ve seen six of the last 10 singers go over two minutes for their Anthem so it’s not like going past the two-minute mark is a huge anomaly or something. 

Considering how talented this guy is at tickling the ivories, I can’t see him not starting with a little mini-solo and taking his time getting into it (assuming he has a piano, but a guitar solo at the start would work too). I think we’re probably OK to play this up to around 124 seconds.