The Queen of Country is also the queen of speedy national anthem singing.
Reba McEntire was chosen to sing the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl 58 on Sunday, and based on her past businesslike renditions, the under is definitely in play.
In fact, it might be the only play.
The over/under for McEntire’s singing of the national anthem before the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs take the field on Sunday opened at 86 seconds, but it has since risen to 90.5 at FanDuel.
McEntire is no stranger to singing the national anthem at sporting events. She’s previously sung at the World Series, a NFL games, an Indy Car event, a celebrity softball game and even a rodeo. YouTube is littered with her beautiful renditions.
Last year, the NFL invited another country singer to belt out the anthem at Super Bowl 57. Chris Stapleton went 2:02, hitting the under by three seconds.
Sunday’s over/under for McEntire is the lowest posted in the 18 years props have been established for the national anthem. Only twice in that time has an over/under been set for 95 seconds or less – Mickey Guyton in 2022 (1:35) and Kelly Clarkson in 2012 (1:34). Guyton went over while Clarkson pushed.
Super Bowl national anthem betting history, since 2019
- 2023: Chris Singleton | Over/under: 2:05 | Actual: 2:01
- 2022: Mickey Guyton | Over under: 1:35 | Actual: 1:52
- 2021: Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church | Over/Under: 1:59 | Actual: 2:17
- 2020: Demi Lovato | Over/under: 1:55 | Actual: 1:49
- 2019: Gladys Knight | Over/under: 1:47 | Actual: 2:01
Super Bowl 58 national anthem prediction
While the trends set by past performers show a consistency of the Star Spangled Banner going well past McEntire’s over/under for Sunday, McEntire herself is not your typical anthem singer.
The country superstar doesn’t waste much time in her rendition. At the 1997 World Series she was done in 83 seconds and a more recent one performed at a country music celebrity softball game, she finished in just over 80 seconds. In our search, we failed to find any of her performances to exceed 1:30.
Given McEntire’s history, especially her more recent history of hovering around 1:20, we like the under to hit for the second straight year and fifth time in the last eight.
Pick: Under 90.5 seconds (-128 at FanDuel)
