There’s A Gambling Controversy Involving Gladys Knight’s Super Bowl National Anthem

Betting the Over/Under on the National Anthem in the Super Bowl is one of the public’s favorite prop bets. The most popular play, of course, is the Over, and this year, it was Gladys Knight who had the honor of performing in Atlanta.

Gladys, as one would expect, crushed the anthem performance and many thought she crushed the Over as well. Most everyone on social media had the anthem clocked in somewhere around 2:01, smashing the official total that was around 1:50 (depending on the book). Over bettors rejoiced, but there may be controversy on our hands — which, if I may pat myself on the back I saw coming the moment the anthem finished.

See, most sportsbooks count it from the first note from the singer to the end of the first brave (the official end of the lyrics). That means, anything that happens after the singer completes “brave” at the end the first time doesn’t count. In her anthem version, Knight did a quick brave and then followed it up with a lengthy, drawn out brave at the end. This has created a controversy as some books that initially graded it as an Over have rescinded that decision and are reviewing it further.

We’ll obviously provide an update when there is a resolution either way, but for now those of you with an anthem ticket may want to double check your establishment’s ruling and may need to sweat this out for a bit.

UPDATE: BetOnline has officially graded the anthem at 1:49 after the first brave, meaning the Under is the winner. However, to avoid backlash they’re paying out both sides.