Who Will the Super Bowl MVP Thank First? (Yes, I Bet on This)

When the Super Bowl MVP winner is announced and then interviewed, who will he thank first?

That’s just one of the thousands of props on Super Bowl LVI.  I found this prop at one sports betting website I use regularly.  Here’s how the prop is listed, along with the odds:

This prop is a little bit tricky.  It may even be open to interpretation.  There are plenty of scenarios where the Super Bowl MVP winner makes a confusing statement, or he gets flustered while speaking, or is interrupted when just about to thank someone, or the microphone shorts out, or something else that creates uncertainty.  Nonetheless, we’ll presume the MVP Award is given out in the usual fashion and the onstage interview goes normally.

Handicapping this prop must take the most likely MVP winners into account.  That means, Matthew Stafford (LA Rams) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals).  Yes, many other players could win it.  But Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks tend to get the football trophy, especially in their debut victory.

Given these two leading MVP candidates and the customary way postgame interviews go, “teammates” should be a huge favorite.  This is especially true for an individual award like winning MVP.  It’s customary for winners to immediately thank teammates, especially in football, which is the ultimate team game.

The second odds-on choice is “God,” which might be something to consider in a college football game or a contest with stars who are overly religious.  But that’s not the case in this game.  “Family members” is probably a good value at +550, but once again, in the heat of the moment, “teammates” is likely to be the first thought on the winner’s mind.  I do have some trepidation that the winner could thank his parents, especially if Joe Burrow wins it (Burrow’s father was a former pro football player).

Anyway, here’s where I placed my money — on “teammates.”

I bet the LA Rams at -4.

I also bet Matthew Stafford to win the MVP Award.

Obviously, there is some correlation to all three of these outcomes.

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