Joe Buck Troy Aikman

Want to take announcer bingo to the next level? Well, there are opportunities to bet on what topics will and won’t be covered during Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LI. Bookmaker.eu has released a list of early Super Bowl prop bets, and while some are related to the game (will a player leave with a concussion?), the halftime show (what color will Lady Gaga’s hair be, and will she have a wardrobe malfunction?), and even the broadcast’s Nielsen rating and total viewers (over/unders of 48.5 and 117.5 million respectively), the most interesting ones from a media perspective are subjects the broadcast will or won’t broach. Here are a few of them:

Will “Matty Ice” be said during the broadcast?

Yes -140
No +110

Will Aaron Hernandez be said during the broadcast?

Yes +190
No -260

Will Michael Vick be said during the broadcast?

Yes +200
No -300

Number of times “DeflateGate” is said during the broadcast

Over 2.5 (-115)
Under 2.5 (-115)

Number of times “dynasty” is said during the broadcast

Over 3.5 (-130)
Under 3.5 (+100)

Will Joe Buck or Troy Aikman reference the game’s odds (spread/total/underdog/favorite) during the broadcast?

Yes +100
No -130

Will Joe Buck or Troy Aikman mention that Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th Round of the NFL Draft during the broadcast?

Yes -170
No +135

People are probably out there already breaking down game tapes of Buck and Aikman to imagine just how likely they are to reference any of these things. From this perspective, it should be remembered that the Super Bowl is a huge general-audience broadcast, which often leads to announcers referencing storylines fervent football fans are already sick on the basis that casual fans may not have heard of them. (If you somehow haven’t heard of Deflategate, though, do you have a bunker we can join you in?) Even in-season broadcasts can do this, though; consider Al Michaels crushing the Deflategate prop bet back in October 2015.

Many the bets here are really interesting, though, and the lines are in notable places. “Matty Ice” feels like a deserved favorite to be said at least once, but both Vick and Hernandez being underdogs to be mentioned at all? Of course, the NFL may not want either mentioned, but it’s certainly conceivable they could come up in discussion of these teams.

Brady in the sixth round feels like a lock, though, even if it will make hardcore fans grimace to hear that yet again. But it seems almost certain that’s going to happen. The over-unders are tougher to pick. There will absolutely be Deflategate and dynasty talk, but will the broadcasters beat either or both topics into the ground, or just briefly mention them?

In any case, it’s fun to contemplate what the books think the announcers may or may not discuss, and it shows a lot about the expected storylines. It will be interesting to see how the broadcast stacks up against these prop bets.

[Bookmaker.eu]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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