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Coin Toss and Gatorade Bath Drawing Plenty of Action Ahead of Super Bowl LVI

Stewart Serena

Updated as of February 8, 2026 at 6:26 AM EST. Read time: 1 minute and 40 seconds. For more information, visit our Twitter and Google News links.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 07: Vita Vea #50 and William Gholston #92 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers give head coach Bruce Arians a Gatorade shower after winning Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Chieft 31-9. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Kevin C. Cox / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Leading up to Super Bowl LVI, there is a surge in interest in special and novelty prop bets, with the coin toss and Gatorade bath being among the most popular choices.

According to Tristan Davis, Senior Trader at BetMGM, these two props are simple to grasp and offer bettors the opportunity to win both before and after the Super Bowl starts.

Furthermore, BetMGM has seen a higher volume of bets placed on the coin toss compared to other standard prop bets like Joe Burrow’s passing yards, Joe Mixon’s rushing yards, or Odell Beckham Jr.’s receiving yards.

At BetMGM, there are various betting options available for the coin toss, including predicting the call, the winning team, and whether the winning team will choose to receive the opening kick or defer to the second half.

Check out: Tips for winning your Super Bowl Prop Pool

At present, Tails (-105) is receiving 60 percent of the tickets and 52 percent of the handle, consistent with the historical pattern of Tails winning 29 out of 55 Super Bowl coin tosses (53 percent).

Even more intriguing is the difference between the ticket percentage and handle percentage for the decision of the coin-toss winner. 77 percent of tickets are on the winning team receiving the opening kick (-500), but 76 percent of the handle is on the winning team deferring to the second half (+375).

Every time Cincinnati and Los Angeles won a coin toss this season, they chose to defer. This trend continued into the postseason. In the last 11 Super Bowls, the team that won the coin toss also chose to defer to the second half, with Los Angeles following suit in Super Bowl LIII.

The New Orleans Saints were the final team to opt to receive the opening kickoff in Super Bowl XLIV in 2009.

Check out these additional 56 Super Bowl Prop Bets.

The Gatorade Bath tradition is known for its unpredictability, and the odds at BetMGM show just that. Orange is the favored color at +200, followed by Blue at +300, and Yellow/Green/Lime and Clear tied at +450. Yellow/Green/Lime has the highest percentage of both tickets and bets, with 33 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

In Super Bowl history, the tradition of the Gatorade bath began in 1987 when the New York Giants drenched head coach Bill Parcells. Over the past two decades, Orange Gatorade has been the most popular choice for celebratory showers, with five instances, followed by clear Gatorade and no Gatorade showers, both with four occurrences each.

Be sure to check our Live Odds page regularly to find the best lines and join in the discussions with other members of the SBR community on our sports betting forum.

Written By:
Stewart Serena
A lifelong Cowboys, Cubs, Maple Leafs and Gators supporter, Neil has been covering sports in print and online since 2011. His past stops include USA TODAY, theScore, DraftKings Playbook and RotoWire among others. He’s a graduate of St. Thomas University and Acadia University and spends ample time at KenWo Golf Club.