Come February 2, 2014, fans and bettors alike will see their first ever cold-weather Super Bowl. Happening at MetLife Stadium – home to the Giants and Jets – two teams will battle it out to be crowned champions of XLVIII. The weather should play a huge part in your Super Bowl wagering strategy from picking a winner down to betting props.
Average temperatures in East Rutherford, New Jersey hover around a low of 22 degrees Fahrenheit with a high of 41. Translation: it’ll be cold.
Loud and Proud?
The national anthem is one of the most popular entertainment props around. Reviews can be positive (re: Kelly Clarkson) or things can take a dive (ahem, Christina Aguilera). Whoever fills Alicia Keys’ shoes next year better be ready. Cold conditions are notoriously difficult for singers who perform live.
While books like Bovada have got timing the anthem down to a tee (Kelly Clarkson’s anthem was mere seconds under), it may be tough to anticipate how a singer will do with frosty pipes. Of course they may opt to lip-sync and make perfect time but that’d be a whole other scandal altogether.
The (Halftime) Show Must Go On
Could the Super Bowl halftime show be MIA next year? Rumours circulated lately that the big performance (that has featured superstars like Beyonce, Madonna and The Who in recent years) would be cancelled at the first cold-weather championship game. The reason? The temps not only puts a damper on the performance, but also the speed at which equipment can be put away.
Breathe easy, bettors – just days ago the NFL dismissed rumours that this Super Bowl will not have a halftime performance. Everyone loves a good halftime prop – from Beyonce’s hairstyle to the color of her outfit. There was even an entertainment prop about whether she’d show any cleavage during what many called the Beyonce Bowl.
Though there’s nothing like betting on the big game itself, bettors enjoy pocketing extra change on some wacky props. When it comes to the halftime shows, bookmakers are getting very creative. Chilly temps could make for some fun props (think snow-suit action by rockstars). Might we even see a power outage prop due to severe weather next year?
Online Only
This year land-based casinos saw over $98 million in betting handle on Super Bowl XLVII. When it came to those quirky and fun halftime show bets though, they missed out. Nevada casinos only take on-field action.
Online books, however, would see a huge decrease in handle if the NFL had cancelled the halftime show.
What if the NFL cancelled the Super Bowl altogether? That would never happen – but rumours abound about the possibility of the NFL rescheduling the event in the case of extreme weather conditions.
Cross-sport props (like Sidney Crosby’s total shots against the number of receptions by a specific receiver on Super Bowl Sunday) would definitely be graded as No Action. A new day and a new time could potentially see a bunch of entertainment props being settled in a similar way – and what’s the fun in that? Let’s hope mother nature sits on the sidelines for this game.