Taylor Swift Effect: Kelce TD Most Bet Super Bowl Prop at DraftKings Except in Illinois

Posted on: February 2, 2024, 05:08h. 

Last updated on: February 3, 2024, 12:07h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Taylor Swift might be having an impact on Super Bowl betting trends. As of Friday afternoon, the most wagered on Super Bowl proposition bet among DraftKings clients is Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — Swift’s boyfriend — to score the first touchdown.

Super Bowl odds Chiefs 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift. She might be stirring interest in Super Bowl prop bets tied to the star tight end. (Image: Getty Images)

The caveat is that Illinois is the exception. Still, it’s an impressive anecdote because DraftKings offers mobile sports wagering in 24 states, including Illinois. It’s not immediately clear why bettors in the Land of Lincoln haven’t made the Kelce to score the first touchdown the top prop bet for the big game, but there’s speculation it’s because bettors there are heavily including that wager as a leg in same-game parlays (SGPs).

At this writing, DraftKings is offering the Kelce to score the first touchdown prop bet at +700 (bet $100 to win $700). That’s longer than the +600 offered by the sportsbook earlier today.

This year marks the fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years by the Chiefs, with Kelce on the roster for all those games. In the team’s 2020, 2021, and 2023 showings in the big game, in which it won two, the tight combined for 22 receptions on 27 targets for 257 yards and two touchdowns — one apiece in the 2020 and 2023 Super Bowls.

Kelce TD Prop Bet No Sure Thing

In the world of sports betting, there’s no such thing as a “lock,” and that’s certainly true of the Kelce prop bet. Hence, sportsbook operators such as DraftKings are offering long odds to entice bettors to embrace what’s essentially a long shot.

The potential success of the bet isn’t about Kelce or Swift. He’s widely regarded as one of the best tight ends of all-time and is viewed as being on the position’s “Mt. Rushmore” along with Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, and Shannon Sharpe.

Rather, the long odds on the Kelce prop wager may be attributable to the first quarter of Super Bowls being equivalent to the first rounds of heavyweight title weights, with the teams feeling each other out rather than attempting to land haymakers.

As a result, the first quarter in a Super Bowl isn’t always conducive to scoring touchdowns. In the first seven Super Bowls played this century, six featured no first-quarter touchdowns. The same is true of another six editions of the big game this century.

Swift Has Enhanced Popularity of Kelce Props

Swift will attend the Super Bowl, jetting to Las Vegas from a concert in Tokyo the night before, but she won’t be performing.

Owing to state-level regulations in the US, there will be no prop bets specific to the music star, but DraftKings and other sportsbooks are offering prop wagers inspired by Swift. In fact, DraftKings has a lengthy menu of such bets, each named after one of her hit singles, but the bets pertain to on-the-field action.

As the Kelce/Swift romance flourished during the regular season with her attending more Chiefs games, some gaming companies noted that they experienced an elevated handle on Kelce prop bets.