Jon Batiste's national anthem creates drama for popular Super Bowl 2025 prop bet
It came down to a half-second.
Singer Jon Batiste took the mic in front of millions of football fans across the world to perform the national anthem before the Super Bowl 2025 in New Orleans.
And as with anything even remotely involved with the Big Game, you could have put some money on it.
The Over/Under on how long it would take Bastiste to sing the national anthem was sitting at 120.5 seconds at FanDuel Sportsbook before the 38-year-old Louisiana native took the stage, with a ton of juice on the Over (-142) and plus-odds on the Under (+114).
The Under cashed by the smallest of margins, with Batiste’s time clocking in at 120 seconds, according to John Ewing of BetMGM.
Darren Rovell noted how the bet would have not been close if Batiste had not sang “home of the free” three times during his rendition.
The length wasn’t all you could have bet on when it came to Batiste’s performance, though.
FanDuel also had odds on whether Batiste — a multi-talented musician who had a recent role in “Saturday Night” and played the house music for Stephen Colbert’s late-night show — would use a piano during his performance.
Oddsmakers were convinced he’d play the keys as part of his performance, pegging the chances does at -400, and they were right.
You could have even drilled down on how long Batiste held the “Brave” note in the national anthem — with an Over/Under of 3.5 seconds.
The National Anthem performance is the first of two music-based props which have become popular for the Super Bowl, with the halftime show also a hit.
Fans can bet on rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance, including who will appear on stage with him and which songs the Grammy winner will use to open and close his set.
Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.
