2024 Super Bowl party props sheet: Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire, Usher, commercials and more fun bets (2024)

The Athletic has live coverage from Las Vegas of Super Bowl 2024, featuring 49ers vs Chiefs, and the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Usher.

In what has become an annual tradition here at The Athletic, we have set before you our party prop sheet for Super Bowl LVIII. After having produced this sheet for your consumption the past three years, you may feel like you know what to expect at this point. But you’d be wrong.

This year’s party prop sheet is bigger and better than ever before — Taylor Swift, Las Vegas, more questions, and, most notably, an ability to fill your picks out within this column, have your answers tracked by us and your results sent to you via email when the game is over! The top 10 scores will get a one-year gift subscription to The Athletic on us (the details and terms of that are below).

Before we get to the sheet, let me quickly explain its intended goal. The idea here is to deliver something that is not too complicated and asks the type of questions that can be answered fairly easily even in a crowded room of partygoers — in other words, no props where you have to count the number of times an announcer says a certain word, or how many times something about a player is mentioned, etc. And we make sure to incorporate the pomp and circ*mstance around the game — did I mention Taylor Swift? — to better appease the football agnostics of the group. As I always say, the Super Bowl tends to bring out the one-timers, just like church on Christmas — of course, we can’t ignore that this whole spectacle is still about crowning this NFL season’s champion, so there’s plenty of questions about the game itself.

With that said, here is our prop sheet for Super Bowl LVIII, some that I’ve made up or re-shaped from real props, some that were the inspiration of our editorial director (and party prop sheet kindred spirit) Oskar Garcia, along with some commentary along the way to help add context. If you want to use it for your own Super Bowl plans, we’re again offering a PDF that you can download and print out (or email to friends and family to play along with). But if you want to take things to the next level, we encourage you to give the online Q&A form (another hat tip to Oskar!) at the bottom of this column a try!

(Note: Each correctly answered question is worth a point. Any question that asks if something will happen during the game means it has to happen between opening kickoff and the final whistle. We’ll provide updated answers throughout the game in our Super Bowl live blog and in the comments, so be sure to check in on that regularly if you want to keep tabs on your progress.)

THE PRE-GAME

1. Reba McEntire is singing the national anthem. Will it be over or under 86.5 seconds? – OVER or UNDER

• I’ve seen this number range from mid-80s to 90 seconds — I opted for the shorter end. Since Jewel hit right at this time (87 seconds) for Super Bowl XXXII, no performer since has clocked a length this short in duration. But McEntire has an extensive history of singing the national anthem on big stages, and singing them expeditiously.
• New addition to The Athletic Hannah Vanbiber has hit the ground running with an excellent breakdown of the national anthem history for both McEntire and the Super Bowl.

2. Will Reba McEntire sing the national anthem a cappella — YES or NO?

• You can go through her national anthem history on YouTube and find instances of both options here. As for the Super Bowl, of the past 10 performers of the “Star-Spangled Banner” only three — Mickey Guyton (SB56), Luke Bryan (SB51) and Idina Menzel (SB49) — sang without musical accompaniment.

3. Will Taylor Swift be shown on the CBS broadcast during the national anthem — YES or NO ?

• I mean, she’s kind of a big deal — we’re likely to see a lot of her. In fact, seven-time Super Bowl lead producer Fred Gaudelli considers Swift’s presence at this year’s game “… a gift from the gods.”
• BetUS has set an OVER/UNDER line at 5.5 appearances on the Super Bowl broadcast, with -140 on the Over, and even money on the Under.

4. Will Taylor Swift be shown in the stadium before the final whistle wearing clothing that bears Travis Kelce’s name, number, image or likeness (like the one seen below)?— YES or NO?

Taylor Swift bundles up in custom jersey jacket to cheer on Travis Kelce at Chiefs vs. Dolphins game https://t.co/6wptMmEVhG pic.twitter.com/HBzeGYDipO

— Page Six (@PageSix) January 14, 2024

5. Who will be shown first sitting directly next to Taylor Swift during the game — JASON KELCE or DONNA KELCE or BRITTANY MAHOMES or NONE?

🚨| Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes celebrating Travis Kelce’s touchdown!

pic.twitter.com/6z1k8Jlt4E

— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) January 22, 2024

6. Which iconic Las Vegas landmark will be seen on the broadcast first during the game — LAS VEGAS “WELCOME” SIGN or BELLAGIO FOUNTAINS or LUXOR PYRAMID/SPHINX or MGM GRAND LION or THE SPHERE or STRATOSPHERE TOWER or THE HIGH ROLLER FERRIS WHEEL?

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

7. Will the broadcast show a casino floor or a sportsbook during the game — YES or NO?

8.Will an image of SpongeBob be shown on the CBS broadcast during the game — YES or NO?

9. What will be the coin flip result — HEADS or TAILS?

• Super Bowl history: Heads 27, Tails 30
• Be sure to check out Nando Di Fino’s column on the the rich history of the Super Bowl’s silliest bet.

THE COMMERCIALS

Note: Only commercials that run between opening kickoff to the final whistle of the game will qualify for scoring. For a complete ranking/rundown/commentary on this year’s SB commercials, be sure to check out Jake Ciely’s … column.

10. Which soccer star will appear in a commercial first — LIONEL MESSI (Michelob Ultra) or DAVID BECKHAM (Uber Eats)?

11. Which actress will appear in a commercial first — AUBREY PLAZA (Mountain Dew) or JENNA ORTEGA (Doritos)?

12. What will be the result of Gronk’s kick in his “Kick of Destiny 2” FanDuel commercial — MAKE or MISS?

• Last year’s kick was a miss, though the camera work in that commercial left a lot to be desired (it looked like he made it!):

13. In the Nerds “Who is Addison Rae coaching” commercial, who will Rae be coaching— ATHLETE or ACTOR or MUSIC ARTIST or OTHER?

• Who is Addison Rae coaching? How about, who is Addison Rae? Ok, admittedly, TikTok is not my thing. Check out the Nerds teaser (below):

THE HALFTIME SHOW

Note: Hannah Vanbiber has your study prep covered with her in-depth look at Usher and his Super Bowl halftime props.

14. Will Usher wear sunglasses during his halftime performance — YES or NO?

• A Google image search for “Usher in concert” shows a smattering of images with Usher wearing sunglasses.

15. When will Usher play his biggest hit single, “Yeah!” — FIRST or LAST or MIDDLE or NOT AT ALL?

• I dare you to circle “NOT AT ALL”

16. Beyond “Yeah!” which of these songs will be played first during Usher’s setlist?

CONFESSIONS, PART II or GOOD GOOD or U DON’T HAVE TO CALL or YOU MAKE ME WANNA or U REMIND ME or OMG or MY WAY or DJ GOT US FALLIN’ IN LOVE or SCREAM or LOVE IN THIS CLUB or DON’T WASTE MY TIME or MY BOO or LIL FREAK or WITHOUT YOU?

• Back in early January, our own Jason Jones broke down his Usher set list expectations.

17. Who will be the first to make a guest appearance with USHER during the show: ALICIA KEYS or LUDACRIS or LIL JOHN or POST MALONE or JUSTIN BIEBER or DAVID GUETTA or NONE OF THEM?

• Alicia Keys collaborated with Usher on his hit single “My Boo”
• Ludacris and Lil Jon most notably collaborated with Usher on “Yeah!”
• Usher was featured in David Guetta’s Top 10 hit “Without You”

18. Total songs (must include lyrics) played during the halftime show — OVER 8.5 or UNDER 8.5?

• The halftime show usually clocks in between 12-15 minutes. Last year, Rihanna hit the OVER on 9.5 songs.

THE GAME

19. Which team will score the first TD – 49ERS or CHIEFS?

• BetMGM has San Francisco at -130
• BetMGM has Kansas City at +105
• BetMGM has “No Touchdown” at +20000

20. What will be the first penalty flag of the game (be it accepted or declined) – OFF. HOLDING or FALSE START or DEF. PASS INTERFERENCE/HOLDING or DEF. OFFSIDES/NEUTRAL ZONE INFRACTION or ROUGHING (the passer, the kicker or unnecessary roughness), or OTHER?

• Here’s a link, courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference, detailing all 3,109 penalties called in the 2023 regular season. The “field” is any other penalty not accounted for among the previously listed options, most notably Delay of Game, which was the fifth-most flagged penalty in 2023.
• False Start (flagged 618 times, 19.8% of all penalties) and Offensive Holding (550, 17.7%) were the top two penalties called in 2023, and by a wide margin.
• Defensive Pass Interference (270) and Defensive Holding (187) clocked in as third- and fourth-most called among penalties, and combined for 14.7% of all penalties.
• Defensive Offsides (147) and Neutral Zone Infraction (93) combined for 7.7% of all penalties.
• Roughing, in all its forms, combined for 8.1% of all penalties.
• The Field (all other penalties not accounted for) makes up 32% of all penalties, but accounts for only one (Delay of Game) of the Top 9 most commonly called penalties in the NFL in 2023 — prior to last year’s first flag (Offsides), Delay of Game had been the first flag in each of the previous two Super Bowls.

21. Who will have a longer pass completion — BROCK PURDY or PATRICK MAHOMES?

• BetMGM has set the longest completion Over/Under for Purdy at 37.5 yards, and Mahomes at 36.5 yards, with -110 to the OVER for both QBs. During the regular season, Purdy had a total of 17 completed passes of 37+ yards, while Mahomes tallied 13 such passes — both QBs played in 16 regular-season games.

22. Who will score a TD — CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY or TRAVIS KELCE or BOTH or NEITHER?

• CMC has been a TD machine since joining the 49ers, scoring 31 times in 27 regular season games and seven times in five postseason contests, including four TDs in two playoff games this season.
• Kelce found the end zone just five times in 15 regular-season games in 2023, but he is as bankable as they come in the postseason, as he’s netted 19 touchdowns in his past 18 playoff contests (including a TD in eight of his past nine games).
• You get a point for circling the correct answer, meaning that if you circle TRAVIS KELCE, but both CMC and Kelce score, there is no point credited since BOTH was not circled.

23. Will the distance of the longest made field goal be over or under 46.5 yards? — OVER or UNDER

• The two Super Bowl kickers, Harrison Butker and Jake Moody, combined for eight field goals of 47+ yards during the regular season, with Butker contributing six of those. But they’ve picked up the deep-shot pace in the postseason, with Butker adding two more of 47+ in three playoff games and Moody adding one in his two postseason games.

24.What will be the last turnover of the game – INTERCEPTION or FUMBLE or NO TURNOVERS?

• San Francisco and Kansas City combined for 29 INTS and 17 fumbles lost in the regular season.
• By my unofficial count, there’s been 139 interceptions and 71 fumbles lost in Super Bowl history — losing team QBs were routinely throwing 3+ INTs in the early years of the Super Bowl.
• There have been just two games without a turnover — Super Bowl XXV (NYG 20, BUF 19) and XXXIV (STL 23, TEN 16).
• Jalen Hurts’ fumble lost in last year’s Super Bowl was the only fumble lost in the past five Super Bowls.

25.Will any of the following events occur in the game: Safety, Flea Flicker Attempt, Field Goal Doink, Defense TD, Special Teams TD — YES or NO?

• There have been nine safeties, 21 defensive touchdowns and 14 special teams TDs in Super Bowl history. I was unable to find historical flea flicker and field goal doink totals, but I’m guessing that we’re fairly close to a 50/50 proposition on this one.
• Note: A doink is a failed field goal attempt that hits the goal (crossbar or uprights). A ball that hits the goal and successfully goes through the uprights is not a doink.

26.What will be the last digit (units digit) in the losing team’s final score? ___ (enter a # from 0-9)

• Simply put, we’re looking for the final score Super Bowl squares number for the losing team. So, for example, if you think the losing team finishes with a final score of 23, “3” would be your guess.
• Before you decide on a number, make sure to check out Dan Santaromita’s valuable insights about the Super Bowl squares game.

27.Which team will win the game — SF or KC?

• The 49ers are favored by 2 points at BetMGM.

28.What color of Gatorade will be poured on winning coach — GREEN/YELLOW/LIME or ORANGE or BLUE or RED/PINK or PURPLE or CLEAR/WATER or NONE?

• Purple +275
• Orange +325
• Blue +375
• Green/Yellow/Lime +375
• Red/Pink +400
• Clear/Water +1100
• No Gatorade poured +2000
• Odds via BetMGM
• Since 2001, orange has been dumped on the winning coach five times (the most of any color). Blue clocks in tied for second (along with clear/water and none) at four times. I had to extract purple (last year’s winner) from a grouping with red/pink since purple is now clocking in as the odds-on favorite at BetMGM.

TIEBREAKER: What time Pacific (local time in Vegas) will the game end?

• Kickoff is at 3:30 pm PT, and the length of the past five Super Bowls has been remarkably consistent — working backwards from Super Bowl LVII to Super Bowl LII, the game lengths have been 3:31, 3:26, 3:35, 3:29 and 3:32.

Here’s the downloadable PDF. And below is the online form and the terms for winning a gift subscription. Good luck, everyone, and enjoy the game!

By filling out the form below and including your email and username, we’ll be able to send you your score after the game once we have the final results. We’ll share the top point-getters at certain points during our live coverage of the Super Bowl bonanza. The top 10 scores will win a free one-year gift subscription to The Athletic (additional terms and conditions may apply). All entries must be submitted no later than 5:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 11.

The information collected here is subject to the policies, terms and conditions set forth in The Athletic’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, as well as our Code of Conduct. We will only use the information submitted for the purposes of this game and to share the results. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to editorial director Oskar Garcia at [emailprotected] (or @oskargarcia on Twitter). And you’re welcome to use our printable sheet if you would prefer to keep things analog.

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