The Super Bowl offers bettors a chance to bet on some of the most unique props of the year, and one of the most popular is the length of the national anthem.
You can’t bet on the Super Bowl national anthem at sportsbooks in the US, but you can still enjoy the fun surrounding the over/under of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Below is a breakdown of the length of the national anthem and all the information you need to know about this Super Bowl prop bet.
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Where can I bet the Super Bowl anthem length?
Sportsbooks in the US don’t allow betting strictly on the length of the national anthem, though some have been known to mix the anthem with other aspects of the game to make a prop bet available.
DraftKings Sportsbook, for example, offered a prop bet in the past where bettors could wager on whether the national anthem would take longer to sing than the shortest drive of the Super Bowl took to complete. It didn’t offer that prop bet for the 2023 iteration of the Super Bowl, however.
Sportsbooks in the US are not permitted to offer a prop bet strictly on the length of the national anthem, but it is allowed if the wager includes something that can be found in the final box score of the game.
What do national anthem odds look like?
The national anthem odds are focused on the length it takes for the song to be sung and is offered in an over/under format. Your odds might look something like this:
- Over 2 minutes, 5 seconds: -115
- Under 2 minutes, 5 seconds: -115
In this example, the sportsbook oddsmakers have determined that the national anthem length will be approximately 2:05 and offer -115 odds on both sides of the bet. That means you’d have to bet $11.50 to win $10 on either outcome.
What is the average Super Bowl anthem length?
When you consider every Super Bowl, the average length of the national anthem clocks in at 1 minute, 43 seconds.
Credit for longer versions can probably be given to Whitney Houston’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl 25, when she sang for 1:56. Since then, only one performance – Jewel at Super Bowl 32 – has gone for less than 1:30.
Before Houston’s performance, the average length of the national anthem at the Super Bowl was 1 minute, 23 seconds. Since then, the average has climbed to 1:57.
| Super Bowl | Performer | Anthem over/under | Anthem length | Over or under? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Chris Stapleton | 1:59 | 2:01 | Over |
| 56 | Mickey Guyton | 1:35 | 1:55 | Over |
| 55 | Eric Church & Jazmine Sullivan | 1:59 | 2:16 | Over |
| 54 | Demi Lovato | 1:55 | 1:49 | Under |
| 53 | Gladys Knight | 1:47 | 2:01 | Over |
| 52 | Pink | 2:00 | 1:52 | Under |
| 51 | Luke Bryan | 2:09 | 2:04 | Under |
| 50 | Lady Gaga | 2:22 | 2:22 | Push |
| 49 | Idina Menzel | 2:02 | 2:04 | Over |
| 48 | Renee Fleming | 2:23 | 2:03 | Under |
| 47 | Alicia Keys | 2:15 | 2:36 | Over |
| 46 | Kelly Clarkson | 1:34 | 1:34 | Push |
| 45 | Christina Aguilera | 1:54 | 1:53 | Under |
| 44 | Carrie Underwood | 1:41 | 1:47 | Over |
| 43 | Jennifer Hudson | 2:04 | 2:10 | Over |
| 42 | Jordin Sparks | 1:47 | 1:54 | Over |
| 41 | Billy Joel | 1:44 | 1:30 | Under |
| 40 | Aaron Neville & Aretha Franklin | N/A | 2:09 | N/A |
| 39 | Choirs of US Military Academies | N/A | 1:53 | N/A |
| 38 | Beyonce | N/A | 2:09 | N/A |
| 37 | The Chicks | N/A | 1:33 | N/A |
| 36 | Mariah Carey | N/A | 1:56 | N/A |
| 35 | Backstreet Boys | N/A | 1:49 | N/A |
| 34 | Faith Hill | N/A | 2:00 | N/A |
| 33 | Cher | N/A | 1:55 | N/A |
| 32 | Jewel | N/A | 1:27 | N/A |
| 31 | Luther Vandross | N/A | 1:53 | N/A |
| 30 | Vanessa Williams | N/A | 1:35 | N/A |
| 29 | Kathie Lee Gifford | N/A | 1:40 | N/A |
| 28 | Natalie Cole | N/A | 2:33 | N/A |
| 27 | Garth Brooks | N/A | 1:45 | N/A |
| 26 | Harry Connick Jr | N/A | 2:06 | N/A |
| 25 | Whitney Houston | N/A | 1:56 | N/A |
| 24 | Aaron Neville | N/A | 1:25 | N/A |
| 23 | Billy Joel | N/A | 1:26 | N/A |
| 22 | Herb Alpert (on the trumpet) | N/A | 1:34 | N/A |
| 21 | Neil Diamond | N/A | 1:02 | N/A |
| 20 | Wynton Marsalis (on the trumpet) | N/A | 1:22 | N/A |
| 19 | San Francisco Boys and Girls Choirs | N/A | 1:21 | N/A |
| 18 | Barry Manilow | N/A | 1:34 | N/A |
| 17 | Leslie Easterbrook | N/A | 1:33 | N/A |
| 16 | Diana Ross | N/A | 1:38 | N/A |
| 15 | Helen O’Connell | N/A | 1:22 | N/A |
| 14 | Cheryl Ladd | N/A | 1:18 | N/A |
| 13 | The Colgate Thirteen | N/A | 1:19 | N/A |
| 12 | Phyllis Kelly | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 11 | NONE | N/A | NONE | N/A |
| 10 | Tom Sullivan | N/A | 1:54 | N/A |
| 9 | New Orleans Chapter of the Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America | N/A | 1:22 | N/A |
| 8 | Charley Pride | N/A | 1:10 | N/A |
| 7 | Little Angels of Chicago’s Holy Angels Church | N/A | 1:12 | N/A |
| 6 | US Air Force Academy Chorale | N/A | 1:10 | N/A |
| 5 | Tommy Loy (on the trumpet) | N/A | 1:13 | N/A |
| 4 | Doc Severinsen (on the trumpet) and Pat O’Brien (spoken) | N/A | 1:26 | N/A |
| 3 | Lloyd Geisler (on the trumpet) | N/A | 1:27 | N/A |
| 2 | GSU Tiger Marching Band | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | The Pride of Arizona, Michigan Marching Band & UCLA Choir | N/A | 1:16 | N/A |
Five longest versions of the Super Bowl national anthem
- Alicia Keys, Super Bowl 47, 2:36
- Natalie Cole, Super Bowl 28, 2:33
- Lady Gaga, Super Bowl 50, 2:22
- Eric Church & Jazmine Sullivan, Super Bowl 55, 2:16
- Jennifer Hudson, Super Bowl 43, 2:10
Five shortest versions of the Super Bowl national anthem
- Neil Diamond, Super Bowl 21, 1:02
- Charley Pride, Super Bowl 8, 1:10
- US Air Force Academy Chorale, Super Bowl 6, 1:10
- Little Angels of Chicago’s Holy Angels Church, Super Bowl 7, 1:12
- Tommy Loy (on the trumpet), Super Bowl 5, 1:13
The new norm for the Super Bowl national anthem seems to be a long song. Twice so far in the 2020s, the song has gone over the 2-minute mark. In the 2010s, it went over 2 minutes five times, including each year from 2013 to 2017.
In the 2000s, it went over 2 minutes four times; in the 1990s, it exceeded that mark just twice.
If you can bet Super Bowl anthem length, should you?
Betting on the Super Bowl national anthem length isn’t legal at regulated sportsbooks in the US, though some have found a workaround by tying the length of the song’s rendition to another aspect of the Super Bowl.
Like any bet, there’s no sure thing when it comes to betting the Super Bowl national anthem, and, at best, it should be a bet you make for the fun of it, not for trying to make money off of it.
Many prop bets like this one, known as “exotic” or “novelty” props, are designed simply for the fun of the bet, and that’s all we can suggest for betting on the length of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
How to open a new account and bet on the anthem
(Note: California sports betting is not legal. The steps below can be used to open a sportsbook account in legal states.)
Visit the sportsbook: Follow one of our links to the sportsbook of your choice, and you’ll end up on the homepage. There, you will find a button to click to register or sign up for a new account.
Provide your information: Fill out the registration form with the required information, such as your legal name, email address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. If the sportsbook prompts for a bonus code, input it here.
Accept the terms and conditions: Every sportsbook has its own set of rules. You can read over them and accept them by accepting the terms and conditions.
Fund your account: Now that you’ve created your account, you can deposit funds into it to begin your betting experience.