CBS announcer Jim Nantz will join color analyst Tony Romo to call his seventh Super Bowl Sunday when the Chiefs look to defend their title against the NFC Champion Buccaneers, who will become the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. In addition to being the year’s most-anticipated television broadcast, Super Bowl Sunday is also an unofficial betting holiday with over $4 billion expected to change hands this weekend.
With sports betting achieving mainstream status in recent years (18 states have made it legal in some shape or form), props and parlays, once reserved for the sharps, have gained increased traction among casual bettors. When it comes to Super Bowl props, the more obscure the better. Coin flips, Gatorade color, National Anthem length, we want it all. Per usual, Nantz finds himself right in the thick of things, with countless props (depending on what sportsbook you wager with) revolving around the longtime play-by-play man. Nantz does his best to tune it out, though make no mistake, the broadcast veteran is well aware of the stakes.
“There are so many prop bets out there that you almost can’t pay attention to them because you realize everything that leaves your mouth is going to either make or lose money for people,” Nantz told Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated. “It’s to the point now where every word you utter, someone has action on it. So you can’t think about it. You just gotta’ let it flow.”
With that said, Nantz can’t help but chuckle at some of the bets being offered. “Boy, that makes me want to run to Vegas right now,” Nantz joked in response to a prop asking whether Romo will correctly predict the outcome of an offensive play (“Yes” is the overwhelming favorite at -200 odds). Apparently, you can also bet how many times Queen Latifah, star of upcoming CBS drama The Equalizer, will be mentioned during Sunday’s broadcast.
“I wouldn’t be naturally inclined to randomly mention Queen Latifah, but given that her new show debuts after the Super Bowl, there is suggested copy on how they want those shows to be promo’d,” acknowledged Nantz. “You can’t really talk about The Equalizer without talking about Queen Latifah.
Truer words have never been spoken. Other props include when Nantz will make his first Gisele reference (the over/under is set for the end of the first quarter), what color tie he’ll be wearing for the big game and how many times Romo will work in the catchphrase, “Let me tell you, Jim.” “I’d set the line higher than that,” said Nantz, scoffing at the over/under (two). “That’s kind of up to Tony. The better the game, the better the chance.”
Betting aside, Nantz is confident Sunday’s game in Tampa will be an improvement on the last Super Bowl he covered, a paint-drying, 13-3 affair between the Rams and Patriots in 2019. “It won’t take much,” the 61-year-old deadpanned. “We’ll have more snaps in the red zone in the first quarter this Sunday than we did in that entire game.”
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