If U.S. legal sports betting ever allows for more Super Bowl novelty markets, you can expect to see a massive influx of women signing up for sportsbooks.
According to a recent Covers survey featuring more than 3,000 participants, women greatly outpace men when it comes to the desire to bet on Super Bowl novelty outcomes, including the coin toss, national anthem, and halftime show. And if they had their way, Super Bowl 59 would double as a Taylor Swift sequel following her much-ballyhooed appearance at Super Bowl 58, won 25-22 by boyfriend Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs.
American bettors aren't allowed to wager legally on most Super Bowl novelty odds, including the national anthem and halftime show; they are, however, available at Super Bowl betting sites in Ontario and the rest of Canada. When it comes to these non-game-related novelty props, oddsmakers don’t want to expose themselves to markets that are predetermined or could be leaked ahead of time for the benefit of bettors in the know.
We asked participants whether they would wager on the halftime show if it were allowed – and whether it should be permitted at all:
Would you bet on Super Bowl "Halftime Show" markets if they were offered legally?
| Gender | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 75.5% | 24.5% |
| Men | 43.7% | 56.3% |
| Total | 54.3% | 45.7% |
More than three in four women surveyed would place a wager on the halftime show – and who could blame them? Not only is the halftime show a great diversion from hours of football, but having the opportunity to make a little money by correctly predicting who will appear on stage with Super Bowl 59 halftime show performer Kendrick Lamar, or guessing which song he'll perform first, is the ideal way to make a great Super Bowl party even better.
Do you think it should be legal to bet on Super Bowl "Halftime Show" markets?
| Gender | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 72.2% | 27.8% |
| Men | 76.4% | 23.6% |
| Total | 74.3% | 25.7% |
Both men and women agree that, while barely half of our participants would actually wager on the halftime show, it should at least be an option. It will be interesting to see if there's any movement on Super Bowl novelty markets in the future, with these options readily available in other countries as the appetite for novelty betting in general continues to grow. For the time being, however, bettors remain limited in the number of non-game-related markets they can access.
Which types of Super Bowl Bets are you most/least likely to make?
| Bet Type | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | 33.5% | 34.6% | 17.2% |
| Spread | 35.5% | 25.7% | 23.7% |
| Coin Toss | 13.6% | 18.5% | 23.2% |
| Player Props | 13.8% | 16.2% | 28.7% |
| Gatorade Color | 3.6% | 5.1% | 7.3% |
Respondents were nearly split evenly when deciding on their No. 1 Super Bowl bet type – but we have the moneyline slightly ahead of the spread when it comes to the average result, buoyed by the moneyline having a significantly higher share of second-place votes.
The real eye-opener here, however, is the gender divide when it comes to the coin toss. Nearly one in five women (19%) selected the pre-game flip as their No. 1 Super Bowl betting option, compared with just 8.7% of men – another example of how much more engaged women players are in novelty betting opportunities. And it's another reason to believe that sportsbooks carrying more novelty betting markets will go a long way toward building a larger female audience overall.
The different Super Bowl betting habits between men and women wasn't the only bit of interesting gender data to come out of the Covers survey. Here's a look at how the respondents feel about the potential big game participants:
Which AFC team do you expect to make the Super Bowl?
| Team | AFC Title Odds | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | +210 | 51.5% |
| Buffalo Bills | +210 | 16.8% |
| Baltimore Ravens | +450 | 8.4% |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | +850 | 4.7% |
| New England Patriots | OFF | 3.8% |
The Chiefs and Bills might be co-favorites to advance to the Super Bowl out of the AFC, but the majority of survey participants share a firm belief that Kansas City is headed back to the big game (despite the Bills riding a seven-game winning streak, an impressive run that includes a win over the Chiefs). The Baltimore Ravens are a distant third, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots (who have already been eliminated from the postseason) rounding out the top five.
Which AFC team do you want to make the Super Bowl?
| Team | AFC Title Odds | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | +210 | 20.4% |
| Buffalo Bills | +210 | 19.7% |
| Baltimore Ravens | +450 | 11.4% |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | +850 | 8.8% |
| Miami Dolphins | +5,000 | 5.4% |
Here's where the power of the women's voting bloc strikes again: Despite the Chiefs being one of the most divisive teams in the NFL, they're the team respondents most want to see in the Super Bowl on the AFC side of the ledger. That's thanks in large part to the 24% of female participants choosing the Chiefs, compared with just 17% of male counterparts. That surge was enough to push the Chiefs past the Bills; Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the longshot Miami Dolphins complete the list.
Which NFC team do you expect to make the Super Bowl?
| Team | NFC Title Odds | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | +145 | 40.9% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | +200 | 20.2% |
| San Francisco 49ers | +6,000 | 8.5% |
| Dallas Cowboys | +75,000 | 5% |
| Green Bay Packers | +700 | 3.8% |
Expectations are surprisingly high for the Lions, who have taken the NFC by storm – and survey participants have Detroit making the Super Bowl at more than twice the rate of the runner-up Philadelphia Eagles. The No. 3 favorite Green Bay Packers come in fifth on this list, behind a San Francisco 49ers team that lost star running back Christian McCaffrey for the season and a Dallas Cowboys unit that sits five games behind the Eagles in the NFC East.
Which NFC team do you want to make the Super Bowl?
| Team | NFC Title Odds | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | +145 | 26.8% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | +200 | 13.2% |
| Dallas Cowboys | +75,000 | 8.6% |
| San Francisco 49ers | +6,000 | 7.9% |
| Green Bay Packers | +700 | 6.8% |
It's one thing for voters to expect the Lions to reach the NFC title game – but they also want to see Detroit there, as well. More than one in four fans have chosen the Lions as their team of preference to advance to the Super Bowl, and they're the favorites to do just that according to the latest Super Bowl odds. The teams on this list are identical to the ones respondents expect to come out of the NFC, with the Cowboys and 49ers swapping spots in this one.
Now that we've assessed which teams the public are stumping for, let's examine projected betting and spending habits ahead of the biggest sports wagering event of 2025:
How much are you planning to bet on the Super Bowl this year in total?
| Range | Rate |
|---|---|
| $21 to $50 | 26% |
| $51 to $100 | 23.9% |
| $11 to $20 | 19.4% |
| More than $100 | 15.7% |
| $1 to $10 | 15% |
It probably isn't all that shocking to see bettors increase their activity for the Super Bowl, with nearly half of respondents committing to spend between $21 and $100 on the NFL championship game. What comes as a mild surprise is seeing a higher share of people vowing to spend over $100 than people who are limiting their action to between $1 and $10.
Which sportsbooks are you expecting to use for your Super Bowl?
| Sportsbook | Rate |
|---|---|
| DraftKings | 53.2% |
| FanDuel | 40.5% |
| Other/Offshore | 17% |
| ESPN BET | 13.5% |
| BetMGM | 13.2% |
Never has it been more clear that DraftKings is the no-doubt No. 1 choice among bettors with access to both DraftKings and FanDuel. More than half those surveyed are planning to fire up their DraftKings app for the Super Bowl, while just over two in five will be using FanDuel. The presence of black market books is still felt in a major way come Super Bowl time (more than one in six surveyed will be going that route), while it's also notable that ESPN BET ranks third among legal books, a major coup for the embattled sportsbook.
Are you considering signing up with a new sportsbook prior to the Super Bowl?
| Response | Rate |
|---|---|
| No | 70.1% |
| Yes | 29.9% |
Customer acquisition is getting more challenging by the year, as evidenced by the fact that more than seven in 10 aren't planning on adding a sportsbook to their library in time for the Super Bowl (despite its standing as one of the biggest acquisition events of the year). It's unlikely we'll see a shift the other way in the future, unless one of the remaining high-population holdouts like California or Texas opt to legalize sports betting.
What is the main reason you would sign up for a new sportsbook prior to the Super Bowl?
| Reason | Rate |
|---|---|
| Sign-up offer/bonus | 62.6% |
| Best odds | 23.5% |
| Family/friend recommendation | 6.5% |
| Reputation | 6.3% |
| Ambassadors | 1.1% |
Make no mistake: When it comes to adding a sports betting app ahead of the NFL title game, it's all about those bonuses. More than three in five participants say sign-up incentives are the most important factor when deciding which new sportsbook to patronize, well ahead of quality of odds. Recommendations from family and friends and overall book reputation also register, both drawing the attention of just over six percent of respondents.
Methodology
Here's a demographic breakdown of the 3,041 respondents who participated in the survey:
Age
| Age Range | Rate |
|---|---|
| 25 to 34 | 31.5% |
| 35 to 44 | 29.4% |
| 45 to 54 | 22.8% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.2% |
| 65+ | 5% |
Gender
| Gender | Rate |
|---|---|
| Male | 54.9% |
| Female | 44.5% |
| Non-Binary | 0.6% |
*Survey was conducted Nov. 22-26.
