Per NBC’s broadcast, the Rams dumped blue Gatorade on head coach Sean McVay.
Editor's Note: The following story was written prior to Super Bowl LVI.
There's a plethora of unique ways in which you can wager on the 2022 Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, and among them is one you'll be sweating right up until the clock strikes zero: the Gatorade bath.
That's right, there are odds on which color Gatorade will be dumped over the head of the winning coach when it becomes clear his team will be the victor, and we have everything you need to know before throwing down your cold, hard cash on one of the funniest props in Super Bowl betting.
A year ago, the Buccaneers dumped blue Gatorade over Bruce Arians, but Super Bowl broadcaster CBS actually missed the live shot of the bath, cutting to the 68-year-old coach only when he was soaking wet and the color of the liquid was unclear. That left bettors scrambling to find out if their bet had won or not. The answer? Blue.
Since 2006, the Gatorade dunk has been a staple of Super Bowl bettors (although the tradition dates back 35 years), with plenty of analysis dedicated to trying to determine which color will wind up getting dumped over the winning coach.
Thinking about joining in on the fun? We've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know when betting on the color of the Gatorade dunk for Super Bowl LVI.
Past Super Bowl Gatorade Colors
When blue Gatorade was dumped over Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians toward the end of last year's Super Bowl, it netted a solid payday for those who bet on it. Blue was +700 heading into last year's Super Bowl, ranking as the second-longest odds on the DraftKings oddsboard, ahead of only purple (+800).
However, it is orange that holds the title as the most common color dumped on the winning team's coach, going back to Super Bowl XL in 2006:
2022 Super Bowl Gatorade Color Odds
| +300 | |
| +600 | |
| +400 | |
| +250 | |
| +350 | |
| +1200 | |
| +1400 | |
Given what we saw above, it should come as no surprise that orange is once again the favorite to be doused over either Sean McVay or Zac Taylor at the conclusion of Sunday's game.
Unlike last year, "None" is also an option and actually checks in with the second-lowest odds. No Gatorade bath isn't normally likely, but it's not unheard of. The last time a coach didn't get a color dumped over their head was Bill Belichick in 2017 with the Patriots. John Harbaugh and the 2013 Ravens are the only other team to not partake in a Gatorade bath, dating back to 2006.
Red/pink and purple remain long shots and for good reason. In the same time frame, no team has used red, while purple has been only used once, by the New York Giants in 2012.
Is There Any Correlation Between a Team's Colors and the Color of the Gatorade?
Kind of.
Despite its common usage, there has been only one Super Bowl champion since 2006 whose team color is orange — the Broncos in 2016 who dumped orange Gatorade on their head coach. The Steelers used yellow in 2009, and the Patriots used blue twice. Those are correlations.
However, including the Patriots (whose colors are blue and red) and the Giants (likewise) there have been seven Super Bowl champions since 2006 whose team color is red, and yet no winner has ever had red Gatorade dumped on its coach. Last year, the Bucs joined that trend, as they opted for blue despite a red primary color.
There's actually a perfectly logical explanation for this. Nobody knows what color is going to be dumped on a coach's head until the moment it happens. Gatorade chooses which colors are going to be on each team's sideline — not the teams themselves — and there's a multitude of colors on the table for each team.
Which cooler they pick up when the time comes winds up being up to whichever players are charged with the deed.
Where You Can Bet on the Gatorade Color
The first time the Gatorade color bet was available at legal books was in 2019 for Super Bowl LIII, when it was approved in New Jersey. In general, getting states to allow the color of the Gatorade for bettors has been problematic.
Only New Jersey, West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana and Indiana said yes to the Gatorade color bet prior to the 2021 Super Bowl, though West Virginia stipulated that the bet must be in an hour before kickoff.
Currently, bettors in those states can find the Gatorade color prop at DraftKings, FanDuel,PointsBet and BetMGM.
