Super Bowl LIII: Gladys Knight hits the over with excellent national anthem ... or does she?
The “Empress of Soul” knows good things come to those who wait. Gladys Knight hit the over during her rendition of the national anthem, clocking in at an unofficial time of 2:01.
[Watch live: Super Bowl LIII on the Yahoo Sports mobile app, Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET]
Or did she? Knight’s anthem apparently created controversy due to the way some sports books timed the song.
Some books are grading the national anthem as an UNDER, ruling that the song ended before Gladys Knight said "brave" for a second time.
— OddsShark (@OddsShark) February 3, 2019
That should come as a major disappointment to those who wagered their hard-earned gummy bears on that prop. Knight was favored to go over the 1:55 mark, according to Bovada.
The prop actually opened at 1:47, which was a fairly aggressive prediction for the national anthem. By comparison, Pink’s national anthem before last year’s Super Bowl came in at 1:53.
Bettors hammered that over, causing oddsmakers to move the line higher.
In a shocking twist, however, Bet Online has decided to pay out both the over and under.
National Anthem length grading update:
Our rules stated clock ended at end of first "Brave". That went about 1:49. Therefore the Under is the official winner.
However…
We have decided to pay out the Over as well. Both sides win. Thank this guy> @BetOnlineBurns
— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) February 4, 2019
Knight showed up wearing a white dress to sing the national anthem. She did not forget any of the words. Yes, those were also things you could bet on prior to Super Bowl LIII.
As for whether there will be a scoring drive under Knight’s anthem time — yet another prop — we’ll just have to wait and see.
The over has been more common among Super Bowl national anthem singers over the past six years. By going over, Knight joins Idina Menzel, Lady Gaga and Luke Bryan as the four singers to hit the over since 2014. Only Pink and opera singer Renée Fleming have hit the under during that period.
What type of impact would hitting the over have had on the game? Probably none. But if you wanted to give Knight’s performance some meaning, the last two times the national anthem went over in a Super Bowl featuring the New England Patriots, the Patriots won those games.
Paying out both sides now throws a wrench into those plans.
Thankfully for Los Angeles Rams fans, the time of the national anthem has nothing to do with the actual game. If Knight’s anthem can end up with an unexpected result, perhaps the Rams can pull off the upset.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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