Super Bowl bets: Will the national anthem go over or under?

One of the most popular prop bets for the Super Bowl is before the action even gets underway. Betting the over or under on the national anthem has been a fan favorite for quite some time, giving people something to root for right off the bat.

I remember betting the over a few years ago and friends and I pulling out our timers to track the sing time. Hearing the singer hold the last note and hit the over can be an exhilarating start to Super Bowl Sunday.

As we gear up for Super Bowl LVI, let's take in this year's anthem singer, the current over/under and past performances we have to gauge where our bet should go on Sunday.

National Anthem Singer and Betting Odds 

"The Star-Spangled Banner" will be sung by Mickey Guyton, a country singer who has just one recorded national anthem up to this point.

It appears that major sportsbooks like DraftKings will not be offering a prop bet on the national anthem, instead offering users in select locations the ability to bet on what takes longer: the anthem or the shortest scoring drive of the game.

On other sportsbooks, such as BetUS, the over/under is set anywhere between 95-98 seconds.

Over/under: 98 seconds (-110)

Will Guyton Go Over?

At first glance, this total seems much lower than past years' anthem singers. A quick look at the history of this prop confirms that.

Every anthem has gone over 1 minute, 38 seconds since 2013, and only one singer (Kelly Clarkson in 2012) has ever gone under this total.

The total is set so low based off Guyton's one national anthem performance, sung at the 2021 National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C.

That rendition came in at 1 minute, 26 seconds.

Despite that total, I'll be betting the over. Something about a big stage like the Super Bowl tends to get singers performing this song at a slower pace. Maybe it's nerves slowing them down, or maybe it's the stage that brings out longer notes and more passion.

Whatever the reason, it's far more fun to bet on the over and get your timer out for the game's first bettable action.

Good luck, and enjoy Guyton's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" this Sunday.